A vacation home owned by Mercer Island resident Jon Rorem and his family near the town of Cle Elum, just east of Snoqualmie Pass, was spared from the Taylor Bridge wildfire that started on Monday near the town in Kittitas County. Several other homes close by were not so lucky.

Rorem’s son, Brad, and two grandsons were at the home at the time and evacuated safely.

“This is a very tragic and tough wildfire,” said Rorem, who added that other Islanders also have cabins in the area. “We lost some outbuildings, a couple of boats, trailers, a great cedar fence, but everyone is ok.”

The State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is activated at Phase III to support the response to the fire. The State EOC moved to Phase III at 8:12 p.m. on Monday night. At approximately 1 a.m. this morning, a federal management assistance declaration was approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This action makes funds available under the Federal Management Assistance Grant program (FMAG), which provides assistance when uncontrolled wildfires threaten to become a major disaster.

The fire is now burning across more than 20,000 acres.