Fire south of Cheney balloons to 3,200 acres as evacuations ordered

"If containment efforts are not successful, that number will continue to grow," Rohrbach said.

He was unsure if the two structures that burned were homes.

The fire is zero to 10% contained, Rohrbach said.

The fire started around 2:30 p.m. near the 15000 block of Williams Lake Road, according to a Facebook post by Spokane County Fire District 3. Responders arrived to find a wildfire spreading quickly to the north and northeast, Rohrbach said. The National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning for the area Wednesday, meaning hot, dry and windy conditions posed a high fire risk.

Rohrbach said wind, rocky terrain and tall grass have made suppressing the fire extremely challenging.

"In 28 years of fighting fire, I've never seen them like this, and so it's really proved to be challenging for firefighters on the ground," Rohrbach said of the grass.

The plume from the fire was easily visible from downtown Spokane Wednesday afternoon.

About 200 firefighters and almost a dozen aircraft from multiple agencies were on scene Wednesday to fight the fire, Rohrbach said. Additional resources from across the state were en route.

All firefighters were able to escape uninjured from the fire engine that the fire destroyed. Rohrbach did not specify the agency that lost the engine. Firefighter shortages have already made matters difficult, Rohrbach said.

"We're thankful they're all out," he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Another wildfire broke out Wednesday evening around 50 miles from Williams Lake in Adams County that closed state Route 21 due to low visibility from the smoke. The fire was reportedly burning in the median of state Route 395 near milepost 82, 13 miles south of Ritzville, according to a news release from the Washington State Patrol.

The Lind Fire Department responded to the scene and Route 395 remained open as of Wednesday evening.