Evacuations Starting in Kittitas County

Firefighters are still battling the Colockum Tarps fire near Wenatchee.

The fire has burned 104 square miles of grass, sagebrush and timber in Kittitas and Chelan counties. The Colockum Tarps fire has burned to the north end of the Wild Horse Wind Farm, about 17 miles east of Ellensburg overlooking the Columbia River.

The Kittitas County Sheriff's Office has completed level 3 evacuation notifications yesterday afternoon. The sheriff's office has confirmed 71 residents have evacuated, while some residents have opted to stay in place.

There's about 100 structures in the evacuation area, including primary residences and recreational properties.

A public meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. tonight at Central Washington University's Student Union Recreation Center, ballroom b & c, second floor, 400 E. University way. Representatives from the Kittitas County Emergency Operations Center and the Washington Incident Management Team #4 will be present to give a fire update and answer questions.