July 2, 2008

Grass fire explodes in Sherman Co.


By ED COX
of The Dalles Chronicle

     A large grass fire that started Tuesday morning with a lightning strike was still out of control today and threatening four or five residences as it burned east of Grass Valley and north of Kent in Sherman County.
     According to Bob Stone, assistant chief at the Moro Fire Department, some estimates had the fire covering as many as 10,000 acres. He said it started near Jacknife Canyon about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
     Various agencies are responding, Stone said, including the North and South Sherman fire departments, Rural 7 out of Washington state, Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue in The Dalles, a unit from the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and one out of Shaniko. Firefighters from the federal Bureau of Land Management and possibly from Jefferson County were also on hand, he said.