Arson suspected in two fires at Osborne Bay

Two fires were started early Tuesday by suspected arson in the Osborne Bay area near the gravel pit on the east side of SR-155 on July 30.

Electric City Fire Chief Mark Payne said there were two fires started about a quarter mile apart in the area. Outbuildings and recreational vehicles in the area were threatened, he said.

A man camping there told police he smelled smoke half an hour after a vehicle, possibly a Jeep, had driven through his camp early in the morning, according to Officer Adam Florenzen of the Grand Coulee Police Department.

The fire was reported at 3:50 a.m.

Payne said that the crews extinguishing the fires — one about an acre and another about a tenth of an acre — came from Elmer City, Grand Coulee, Electric City, and the Bureau of Reclamation, finishing up at around 8:30 a.m.

The Bureau of Land Management was sending two engines to keep a watch over the fire and an investigator to the scene, Payne said. The fires occurred on land owned by Reclamation, which contracts with BLM for fires.

Payne said he was grateful the fire was reported so early, so firefighters could put it out quickly.

“Otherwise we might still be out there,” he said.