Firefighters Battling Blazes Near Naches and Vantage

Firefighters are battling flames of the Cow Canyon Fire in the Wenas area, 10 miles north of Naches. So far no structures have burned in the fire which started Wednesday afternoon in the Barbecue Flats Horse Camp. It was estimated at 5,600 acres Thursday morning. There's no containment yet on the fire

Evacuation notices were issued on Wednesday

Level 3 "must leave immediately" Evacuation notices are in place for Maloy and Audubon Roads near the blaze. Firefighters have Level 2, "be prepared" notices in place for North Wenas Road from Wenas Lake to Ellensburg.
The cause remains under investigation. The Selah Civic Center is now an emergency shelter for those who need a place to stay away from the blaze.

Big growth in the Vantage Highway Fire on Wednesday

The Vantage Highway Fire is growing as the fight continues.
Thursday the fire is grown to 26,40 acres at 21% contained.  A press release says the incident management team looks forward to the cooler weather and higher humidity levels Thursday which they hope will help them gain more containment.

Better mapping of the fire happened on Wednesday

On Wednesday firefighters flew over the blaze to get a more accurate map of the external borders of the fire. The fire officials say "even though the total acreage of the area within this updated perimeter is 26,490 acres, the burned land within the newly traced perimeter is interrupted by sizable pockets of unburned fuel. Accounting for this, the estimated total acreage of the fire is 17,000 acres."

The fire is still impacting local roads but no impact to I-90

Vantage Highway will remain closed until at least 3:00 p.m. Thursday, at which point the Southeast WA Type 3 Incident Management Team, Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office, and Kittitas County PUD will assess if it is ready to open. Vantage Highway is closed from Parke Creek Road through Recreation Drive except for local traffic. There are no evacuation notices for the Vantage Highway Fire.
The Kittitas Secondary School is the Incident Command Post for Southeast WA Type 3 Interagency Incident Management Team, which is collaborating with Washington DNR, the BLM, and the Washington State Patrol-Fire Marshal’s office for this state mobilization response.