The Colwash Fire nearly quadrupled in size overnight, growing from an estimated 8,000 acres when it broke out Saturday morning to more than 34,700 acres by Sunday, according to National Interagency Fire Center figures reported by AppleValleyNewsNow .
Sage brush, heavy grass and dry range fuels across the Yakima Valley floor let the fire move fast in both directions along Highway 22, and by Saturday evening it had already forced the first "go now" evacuation notices in the Mabton area.
Reporting on the precise boundaries has shifted between outlets over the course of the weekend as the fire has moved, which is typical of a fast-growing incident where county emergency management updates outpace news cycles.
The State Escalates Its Response Washington State Patrol Chief John Baptiste authorized the mobilization of state firefighting resources at 5 p.m.
Colwash's cause, by contrast, has not been publicly identified, and nothing reported so far points to arson, while the Three Queens Fire in Kittitas County has been attributed to lightning.
The Colwash Fire grew from 8,000 to more than 34,700 acres overnight, forcing new Level 3 evacuations south of Prosser, closing Highway 22, and pulling state resources already stretched thin by other Washington wildfires.