Eastern Washington wildfire forces evacuations and destroys homes

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SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — High winds drove a wildfire into a Spokane neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of about 1,200 people and potentially damaging or destroying up to 15 structures, according to fire officials.

The Upriver Fire started at 12:17 p.m. Tuesday near Upriver Drive in northeast Spokane, said Fire District 9 spokesman Robert Gray.

“It moved rapidly up the hill and once it reach the top the wind shifted and it went right into the Northwoods neighborhood,” Gray said. Fire crews from Washington state and Idaho attacked the fire from the ground and air, but it quickly grew to 225 acres (.35 square miles) in an area called Beacon Hill.

The blaze was 10 percent contained by Wednesday morning, according to a report by the National Interagency Fire Center. The wind had died down overnight, but the fire was still burning on the ground, so there was potential to expand on Wednesday, said Isabelle Hoygaard, a spokesperson with the Washington state Department of Natural Resources.