Unseasonally warm and dry weather had firefighters from around the region scampering to a host of wildfires and other burns Monday and Tuesday.
At press time, the latest fire was “a couple acres wide and growing” in the area of Grandview Terrace and Avellana Avenue in Longview’s Columbia Heights area, and authorities dispatched a helicopter to help fight the flames, said David LaFave, chief of Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue.
A plume of charcoal-colored smoke was visible around the Longview lowlands just after the Tuesday lunch hour. Some structures and power lines in the area were threatened, but there was no information about possible road closures.
Neighbors suspect the fire started from a debris burn, though the cause of the fire is still under investigation.