State Fire Mobilization Authorized for the Bowles Fire
For Immediate Release
Benton County – State fire assistance has been mobilized under the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan in support of local firefighters working to contain the Bowles Fire located in Benton County, near the town of Finley. Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste authorized the mobilization of state firefighting resources on April 21, 2024, at 5:45 p.m. at the request of Fire Chief Lonnie Click, Benton County Fire District 1.
The Bowles Fire started on April 21, 2024, at approximately 5:15 a.m. This fire currently involves a 525,000 square foot frozen food warehouse and is also burning in adjacent grass, brush, and trees. Homes and infrastructure are threatened. Level 3 evacuations are in effect at this time. The fire cause is currently under investigation.
The State Emergency Operations Center at Camp Murray remains activated at Level 1 to help coordinate state assistance for the Bowles Fire. Mobilization specialists from the Fire Protection Bureau have ordered 1 strike team and State Fire Marshal’s Office personnel are currently working remotely to coordinate the dispatch of resources.
Under the State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan, the Fire Protection Bureau coordinates the initial
dispatch and continued administrative oversight of resources and personnel for the duration of the
mobilization. The Mobilization Plan is implemented to provide a process to quickly notify, assemble and deploy fire service personnel, equipment and other resources from around the state when fires, disasters or other events exceed the capacity of local jurisdictions. More information about the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan is available at: http://www.wsp.wa.gov/all-risk-mobilization/.
#
Bird’s-eye-view images of the fire activity as of about 8:30 p.m. Sunday are available at the Benton County Facebook page. Crews on scene overnight expect the fire to continue burning for several days.
#
The State Fire Marshal’s Office is a Bureau of the Washington State Patrol, providing fire and life safety services to the citizens of Washington State. These services include public education, licensing and certification of the fire sprinkler, fireworks, and cigarette industries, data collection and analysis, fire and life safety inspections for state facilities, plan review of school construction projects, all-risk mobilization of statewide fire service resources, hazardous materials training, and the training and certification of firefighters. www.wsp.wa.gov/state-fire-marshals-office/