“It was kind of a blur, the whole thing happened so quickly,” said Lana Bishop-Atkins, “It took only minutes from the time we saw smoke on the other side of the hill to the time it was within feet of our houses.”

Firefighters continued to monitor the area on Saturday, July 3rd and due to the hard work of fire crews, control and oversight of the area was returned to local authorities on July 4th.

Strong winds pushed the Sunset Valley Fire, which was burning in mostly brush and wheat, in a southeast direction, forcing evacuations and road closures. The fire damaged one barn, several outbuildings, multiple vehicles and a portion of a local cherry orchard. Firefighters were able to protect the homes in the area and no injuries have been reported.