More than 17,000 acres have burned in the wildfire near Goldendale, Washington with 144 structures threatened, but none have been damaged.

The Klickitat County Sheriff's office issued evacuation notices for the homes along the top of Satus Pass with the fire only 15 percent contained.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and as KIMA-tv reports, Department of Natural Resources spokesman, Nick Cronquist, says the fire still has "a lot of potential for growth."

The Mile Marker 28 fire has 1,100 firefighters and at least six helicopters working on it while Highway 97 between Goldendale and Toppenish remains closed.

Cronquist said it was good for the firefighters to see a large plume of smoke rise above the fire on Saturday because it means it is "burning up unburned fuel that has the potential to spread the fire later on."

There continues to be families arriving at the Red Cross shelter to get food and water as they pack up their homes.

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