In Other News
Beverly-area fire spreads; public EV chargers planned for new PUD service center.
Railroad Fire prompts evacuations
BEVERLY — Fire evacuation orders and advisories continued Friday afternoon (July 24) in the Lower Crab Creek area of Grant County, including the unincorporated communities of Beverly and Schawana, with a Level 1 fire caution issued by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office for rural properties north of Mattawa.
Crews are battling the Railroad Fire, which began around 11 p.m. Wednesday near the Railroad Bridge. Local agencies worked through the night to slow the fire’s progress and protect structures, and state mobilization including air resources was authorized early Thursday morning at the request of Grant County Fire District 10 chief Eric Linn.
An update issued late Thursday evening by the Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team said the fire was estimated at 1,200 acres in size and had damaged seven residences. It is burning in grass and sage, and is threatening homes, crops, and Grant County PUD facilities. No injuries were reported. Cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Level 3 (go!) evacuations were issued to all residents in Beverly, Schawana, and along Lower Crab Creek Road for five miles east of State Route 243.
This morning (Friday), the sheriff’s office posted a Level 2 (get set to go) evacuation notice between Jericho and Smyrna. This afternoon, a Level 1 (be prepared) advisory was issued for rural Mattawa north of Road 24-SW between Roads R-SW and O-SW.
For updates, including road closures, area residents are asked to monitor the Grant County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, Nixle alerts, and local radio stations.
Grant PUD said its Burkett Lake Recreation Area and Crab Creek Park remain closed, but other recreation sites have reopened.
New PUD service center to include public EV chargers
EPHRATA — Grant County PUD intends to add 10 electric vehicle charging stations for public use when the district’s new Ephrata Service Center opens along State Route 282.
The project is currently under construction with completion anticipated in early 2028.
The Level 2, 80-amp charging stations will be capable of charging all makes of EVs, the district announced earlier this month.
“These chargers will be an added convenience for our customers and for our own, growing fleet of electric vehicles,” said Fallon Long, Grant PUD’s vice president of shared services, in a July 9 press release. “They’ll help ensure our buildings comply with relevant state codes for EV charging.”
The charging stations are funded in part by grants received from the Washington State Departments of Ecology and Commerce for both “public-facing” and Grant PUD’s own fleet chargers.
Both types of installations are needed to comply with the state’s Transportation Electrification Strategy, which requires all newly constructed, publicly accessible buildings to set aside a percentage of their parking areas for EV charging.
By the end of this year, the PUD intends to add a dozen EV chargers for fleet use at other existing district buildings — six at the Ephrata Headquarters, two at the annex building on Diamond Drive, and four at its hydro office building near Wanapum Dam.
