Latest Information: The fire burned 26 acres of brush and grass plus a few trees before it was contained. Quick work by firefighters saved a house that was in the fire's path and no structures were damaged. The fire was on the west side of Highway 20 near Signal Hill Road.

Division Chief Cody Acord of Okanogan Fire District 6 said Tuesday night that a crew moved in to do prep work at the threatened house "and by the time the fire blew by the house it was saved." He did not know the owner's name. Early reports of a damaged outbuilding were erroneous, he added.

Acord was told that the cause of the blaze was a spring burn pile that spread in the afternoon wind. "We were actually just finishing another similar call up the West Chewuch when this call came in," he said. "I need to caution people about burn piles when the afternoon wind picks up. It's really dry out there right now and any little spark in this dry grass is trouble." This was the third or fourth brush fire local crews have dealt with recently and "the second larger one," Acord said.