Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Robby Johnson of Palouse, a county bridge department worker, falls a tree Thursday along Pine City-Malden Road in the wake of the Babb/Malden Fire.
MALDEN — The Babb/Malden Fire is now credited with burning 17,781 acres, 1,000 of which were in Spokane County.
Crews are performing their final assessments of the Malden and Pine City communities.
The current tally from the Southeast Washington Type 3 Inter-Agency Team is 121 single-family homes destroyed, four single-family homes damaged, eight commercial and governmental properties - including Malden City Hall, library, post office, convenience store and Masonic Lodge No. 188 destroyed - and 94 other structures destroyed.
Residents of the communities were allowed to return to their homes yesterday at noon to assess the damage. Utility companies are also on the scene with work underway, including replacement of power poles.
The general public is being asked by the Whitman County Sheriff's Office to stay out of the area while workers and residents assess damage.
The Babb/Malden fire is 0% contained.
A fire line is up which crews are working on strengthening and building. Crews are continuing to identify hazards around the communities as they work on the fire lines.
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