Fire forces evacuation of homes in Warden

WARDEN, Wash.-- Fire destroyed a large industrial building at Washington Potato in Warden Thursday night, and forced the evacuation of dozens of homes. Grant PUD also responded and shut down power to much of the town.

A Leve 1, Get Ready, evacuation notice was issued at about 8:30 p.m. for all homes and businesses west of Road U-SE and south of SR 170, because of concerns about the smoke and explosive chemicals at the food processing plant.

Twenty minutes later, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office issued a Level 3, Go Now, evacuation notice for those same areas, as the fire threatened a large ammonia tank next to the burning building.

The evacuation notice was lifted at about 12:45 a.m. Friday.

The fire was contained to the Washington Potato site and no other structures have been damaged.

Kyle Foreman with the Grant County Sheriff's Office say the blaze reportedly started in a dehydrator at about 5:30 p.m. then extended to the structure.

Fire agencies from across Grant and Adams County responded to help with the blaze. No injuries were reported.