Crews from multiple fire agencies were able to corral a brushfire in just four hours after it ignited in the Purtteman Gulch area above Chelan.
Chelan Fire and Rescue, the lead agency, worked with Entiat Fire, the state Department of Natural Resources and other departments to head off the blaze, which grew to about 7-1/2 acres and threatened to burn into neighboring Union Valley, site of about 80 homes.
"It was a great effort from everyone involved," said Chelan Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief Mark Donnell. "... We had enough ground resources that we were able to stay on top of it." The Chelan Valley's first major brushfire of the season appeared to start about 2:50 p.m. in a disused chicken coop, Donnell said, but the precise cause is not known. The coop had not been used recently and electricity to warm it had been shut off for the past year.