Crews fighting Benton-Yakima county line fire. It’s already burned 4,500 acres of brush

A 4,500-acre wildfire between Prosser and Mabton that erupted over the Fourth of July holiday was mostly contained by firefighters on Tuesday.

The Byron Hill Fire is burning south of Highway 22 and east of Byron Hill Road along the Benton-Yakima county line.

“There is still active burning on the Byron Hill Fire. The fire is burning within the perimeter of the fire,” Yakima County Fire District 5 wrote in a noon Facebook post on Tuesday. “Crews are on scene monitoring the fire currently and reinforcing the dozer lines.”

Deputy Fire Chief Joel Byam told the Yakima Herald-Republic the fire was between 95-99% contained.

Level 1 evacuation notices along Wells Gap Road and Empire Way Road in Yakima County were also lifted.

The notices impacted about a half-dozen houses.

“It burned into Benton County about midnight last night. It’s currently affecting both sides,” Fire District 5 Chief Ken Shipman told the Tri-City Herald. “As far as the threat to our fire district, it seems like those two sides are both contained. We put a lot of resources on it last night, including our dozers.”

Fire crews first arrived on scene at 6:56 p.m. on Monday, July 4, to reports of a brush fire on Byron Hill. Within three hours, the fire swelled to more than 2,000 acres in size and was burning south up the hill and east toward Prosser.

“Fire is wind driven, being pushed to the east,” the department wrote in a Facebook post late Monday.

Shipman said Yakima County Fire District 7, Benton County Fire District 5, West Benton Fire Rescue in Prosser and the state Department of Natural Resources have responded.

The cause of the fire is not yet known. No injuries or deaths have been reported.