VIDEO: People living near a fire that has destroyed Washington Potato Company in the small town of Warden can return to their homes on Friday morning, according to the Grant County Sherriff's Office.
The fire initially prompted Level 3 evacuations due to the possibility of a large ammonia storage tank exploding but those evacuations have since been lifted, GCSO spokesperson Kyle Foreman said. A Level 1 notice remains in place, meaning people should be ready for a potential evacuation. The risk of explosion is now "minimal" and the sheriff's office does not anticipate more evacuations in the future, Foreman added.
Foreman said the fire, which reportedly started in the dehydrator at about 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, was still burning as of 7 a.m. on Friday and the building is a total loss. Many people work at the Washington Potato Company and it's a large supplier of the crop in Washington state.