Wildfires surround Tri-Cities: Evacuations, WA strike teams and aerial firefighting
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- Fire crews fought multiple wildfires across Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties.
- Juniper Dunes blaze grew by hundreds of acres and was battled by ground and air crews.
- Residents faced evacuations west of Benton City and in Wallula Gap area.
Firefighters were scrambling to fight fires across Benton and Franklin counties and the western edge of Walla Walla County over the weekend, with the start of summer still a week away.
One fire east of Benton City was forcing some residents to be evacuated as it burned near the Old Inland Empire Highway just north of Interstate 82. The blaze also knocked out power in Prosser.
About 3:30 p.m. Sunday the Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team said incident management teams were arriving to help with fires burning in the Juniper Dunes area of Franklin County and near the Twin Sisters in Walla Walla County just across the Columbia River from Benton County.
As of Sunday afternoon what appeared to be the largest wildland fire was burning in the area of the Juniper Dunes recreation and wilderness areas northeast of Pasco. It had grown to 600 acres, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association.
A number of fire trucks were dispatched to the Juniper Dunes fire just before 8 p.m. Saturday to near Kruse Road, west of the area popular with off-road vehicles, hikers and equestrians.
The fire chiefs association reported the fire burning mostly northeast of Juniper Dunes Road on Sunday.
The fire also was being fought Sunday from the air using water from the Snake River near Fishhook Park, according to the association.
By 10 p.m. Saturday the fire, being fought with crews from Franklin County fire districts, had spread across about 100 acres.
A huge smoke plume and raging flames could be seen from as far away as the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco.
The Juniper Dunes area is about 19,000 acres, including the wilderness area covering more than 7,000 acres, as well as the open recreational area and an area of critical habit.
Twin Sisters wildfire
Two wildland strike teams were ordered to help local firefighting agencies contain the Highway 740 Fire in Walla Walla County near the Twin Sisters south of Wallula that started late Saturday.
Highway 730 was closed in both directions from the Walulla Junction south to the Washington and Oregon state line about 11 p.m. Saturday night due to a crash.
By early Sunday morning the Washington state Department of Transportation reported the closure was for a wildfire that was burning through grass, brush and crops. Lanes reopened about 3 p.m.
No information was available on the weekend about whether the crash was connected to the fire.
Homes were threatened by the fire and Walla Walla County Emergency Management reported evacuations in the Hatch Grade area south of the junction in effect starting early Sunday morning and continuing Sunday afternoon.
Other residents near the fire were put on alert to be ready to evacuate.
The Western Fire Chiefs Association showed fire burning across the state line into Umatilla County and aircraft being used to curb the spreading flames.
Fire west of Benton City
Sunday afternoon residents were evacuated as a fire burned near the Old Inland Empire Highway just north of Interstate 82 in Benton County.
The fire was burning in an area between Benton City and Prosser.
An estimated 40 people had been forced to evacuate due to the fire and one family home had burned down, according to the American Red Cross Sunday evening.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office warned residents near the evacuation area to be prepared to also leave, if needed, as crews worked to contain the fire.
The American Red Cross opened an evacuation shelter at Prosser High School at 1500 Paterson Road at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Helicopters were being used to fight the fire and were dipping water from the Yakima River.
Residents in the Prosser and Benton City areas were without power, the Benton Rural Electric Association reported about 4 p.m. Sunday after the Bonneville Power Administration line that feeds its substations was down.
Because of the fire, Benton REA crews could not immediately get close enough to assess the damage and begin restoring power.
On Saturday, firefighters from around the Tri-Cities area were kept busy responding to additional fires in Benton and Franklin counties, including a blaze near Jolianna Drive near Badger Mountain in Richland that began about 5 p.m. and a two-alarm fire near 27th Avenue and Oak Street in East Kennewick about 4:30 p.m.
Benton County Fire District 1 said the east Kennewick natural cover fire started shortly before 5 p.m. and that vehicles and a utility pole burned. The fire was out Saturday night.
This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Wildfires surround Tri-Cities: Evacuations, WA strike teams and aerial firefighting."