By Brenda Starkey
The Chronicle

     REPUBLIC - Local resources showed great cooperation in their efforts at fighting the 650-acre Fish Hatchery Road Fire, which had been surrounded by a bulldozer fire line by the evening of Friday, Aug. 27, according to a Type 2 incident management team spokeswoman.
     The blaze, which broke out at 1:17 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26, along Fish Hatchery Road some six miles northeast of town, was fanned by stiff winds and quickly spread toward the north along Spring Ridge Road and jumped Heron Creek, forcing evacuation of some 40 households along Heron Creek Road and Spring Ridge Road.
     Some 60-80 homes were threatened and the fire had grown t 650 acres by 8 a.m. Friday morning, according to the Ferry County Sheriff's Office.
     One outbuilding was destroyed by the blaze, the sheriff's office said.
     But by 1 p.m. Friday, the fire had not grown beyond the 650 acres reported at 8 a.m.
     By Friday evening all area residents were allowed back into their homes, management team spokeswoman Kashare Eagle said.
     Fish Hatchery Road, Heron Creek Road and Spring Ridge Road were open only to area residents, she said.
     Residents are urged to watch their speed and be aware that fire engines and other emergency vehicles will be operating in the area through the night Friday and during the day Saturday, she said.
     Although fire lines have been cut, the fire doesn't reach all the way to those lines in all places, Eagle said.
     Crews were expected to work through Friday night and during the day Saturday so the fire barrier and the dozer lines will meet. When that is accomplished, crews will begin mop-up operations, Eagle said.
     Republic Fire Chief Tom Lindsey said that by Friday morning the fire had consumed more than 648 acres and there were two separate smaller fires burning north and south of the main fire.
     Volunteer firefighters were dismissed from the fire unless individual residences become imminently threatened, he said.
     The Republic Fire Department suffered no injuries and was accident-free during the blaze, he said.
     Local crews showed remarkable cooperation to contain the blaze in such a short time, Eagle said.
     Emergency responders who worked the fire include Okanogan-Ferry County Fire District Nos. 13 and 14, Ferry County Sheriff's Department, Kinross Gold, Ferry County PUD, Ferry County Public Works Department, the Colville National Forest Republic Ranger District and state Department of Natural Resources Highlands District.