Growing widlfire in central Washington prompts evacuations and threatens homes and farms

QUINCY, Wash. (AP) — Authorities in central Washington have told some people to leave their homes immediately after a new, growing wildfire sparked west of Quincy. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office issued the evacuation notices Monday for areas near the unincorporated community of Trinidad and the resort area of Crescent Bar. Washington’s Fire Marshal said in the evening that state mobilization had been authorized for the blaze dubbed the Baird Springs Fire. So far it has burned about 1.4 square miles of terrain containing sage brush and crops. It is threatening homes, orchards and a processing warehouse. The fire was moving south, and an American Red Cross shelter was opening in Quincy.