Walla Walla County expects more than 400 personnel on the scene of a growing fire ten miles east of Walla Walla by Tuesday afternoon.
In the morning emergency managers estimated the fire at 4,000 acres with one home and seven outbuildings destroyed. Crews from as far away as Gig Harbor, Washington and John Day, Oregon had arrived or were on their way to augment the 250 firefighters in the area to fight the Blue Creek and Klicker Mountain fire. The fire was growing to the southeast as of Tuesday afternoon.
"It is in difficult terrain," said Walla Walla County spokesperson Heather Lee. "It's gullies, it's steep terrain, it's valleys. And so it's hard to get to."
Lee said spot weather forecasts for wind and other changing conditions should keep firefighters safe, but that more homes could be threatened as temperatures rise and wind picks up Tuesday.
"It's very dependent on where they can stop the fire," she said. Some homes in the area are under orders to evacuate immediately.
Lee said the Red Cross shelter at the Walla Walla County Fairgrounds is accepting people and livestock.
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