Wallula Fire Contained but Not Controlled

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By Holly Zuluaga

Summary

WALLULA--Crews remain on scene at the fire in Wallula.

Story Published: Aug 4, 2008 at 5:31 PM PST

WALLULA--Crews remain on scene at the fire in Wallula.

The fire isn't getting bigger.

It has to be monitored round the clock.

Teams are sleeping at a fire station in Burbank and showering at a nearby school.

The fire is at 500 acres and holding, but crews are prepping for lightening expected later this week.

They're not out of the woods yet, crews are still putting in long hours on the fire that started Saturday.

Fish and Wildlife Officers says they'll lose tons of habitat on the Mcnary reserve, so they're trying to save what they can.

"We'll make sure we have a clearly defined plan in relation to snags, because it's valuable standing and not as valuable when knocked down by a chainsaw," Chris Schulte with Fish and Wildlife said.

The big concerns are the Cottonwood Trees which are lost for good, that's bad for birds.

Especially for Red Tail Hawks and migratory birds that make the reserve home.

Fish and Wildlife say they had just released caterpillars, beetles and other insects into that part of the reserve to help kill off invasive species that might hurt the refuge, so now they'll have to re-do all of that work.

It's not clear how this fire started, but it was probably started by a person.

Though it's not clear if it was intentional or not.

Investigators think the first started off of Highway 12.