Fire at Odesza Gorge concert lasted for five minutes, law enforcement officials say

This past holiday weekend turned fiery at the Gorge Amphitheatre outside of Quincy on Saturday.

A show from the Bellingham-based electronic music duo Odesza at the Gorge featured fireworks for its last song — that sparked a wildfire in sagebrush and grass, said Kyle Foreman, with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. 

“It can be very impressive to see how fire can develop in sagebrush,” Foreman said. “We’re happy that no one was hurt and nothing of value was lost.”

Odesza was playing their last piece of the night at about midnight, when fireworks went off as part of the show’s finale. That sparked a one-quarter-acre grass and sage fire that burned for about five minutes, according to Foreman. 

There were about 18,000 people at this past weekend’s show. The fire was put out by Gorge Amphitheatre staff with small fire hoses. 

Foreman said none of the crowd panicked. The Gorge venue has seen other wildfires and even a shooting last year. 

“We do a ton of planning every year, and go through different scenarios in our heads and go through different scenarios in tabletop exercise,” Foreman said. “We explore the what-ifs.”

Foreman said if fireworks should be continued at the venue, it is up to the Grant County Commissioners.  

It takes about four hours to empty the Gorge with a full crowd in an orderly manner, Foreman said.

“We believe we have the best we can available to us,” Foreman said. “We do have limited resources. Many times we have as much as 25,000 people there at the Gorge, we’re certainly not going to have a fraction of responders that’s going to meet that level of attendance. But we do have a ton of resources on the scene that are all working together to make sure it’s as safe as possible.” 

Grant County has a burn ban from June 1 to Sept. 30. The Grant County Commissioners were contacted Tuesday morning, but didn’t respond by deadline.