State fire assistance has been mobilized under the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan in support of local firefighters working to contain the Milepost 31 Fire, near the Grant and Adams County line along State Route 26.  Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste authorized the mobilization of state firefighting resources on June 14, 2012, at 12:45 am at the request of Grant County Fire District 11 and Adams Count y Fire District 5.

The fire started at 2:44 pm on June 13, 2012.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.  The fire has grown to an estimated 1,500 acres.  There is 1 residence and an outbuilding threatened by the fire.  No evacuation orders have been established.

Mobilization specialists from the Fire Protection Bureau have ordered two strike teams (10 engines and 2 tenders), as well as 3 engines and 2 tenders as single resources A Type 3 Incident Management Team was in place prior to mobilization approval.

The State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at Camp Murray has been activated to Phase II, to coordinate state assistance for the Milepost 31 Fire.  Personnel from the Office of the State Fire Marshal will be on scene to coordinate dispatch of resources, and other personnel will staff the State EOC.

Under the State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan, the Fire Protection Bureau coordinates the initial dispatch and continued administrative oversight of resources and personnel for the duration of the incident.  The Mobilization Plan is implemented to provide a process to quickly notify, assemble and deploy fire service personnel, equipment and other resources from around the state when fires, disasters or other events exceed the capacity of local jurisdictions.  More information about the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan is available at:  http://wsp.wa.gov/fire/mobeplan/emobplan.htm