Washington state wildfire threatens homes, farms, gas pipeline

Reuters

Published Jul 24, 2023 18:37

Updated Jul 25, 2023 07:17

By Matt McKnight

BICKLETON, Washington (Reuters) -A fast-growing wildfire forced residents to evacuate a rural stretch of southern Washington state's Klickitat County on Saturday after it burned more than 30,000 acres in less than 24 hours.

The Newell Road Wildfire has already destroyed several structures in the area and is threatening homes, farms, crops and livestock, solar and wind farms and a natural gas pipeline, county emergency officials said.

The fire was also moving toward the Yakama Indian Reservation, Allen Lebovitz, a spokesperson for the state's Department of Natural Resources, said in an interview in Bickleton, a community of about 80 people about 120 miles (190 km) east of Portland, Oregon.