Fire crews continued working to contain two Whitman County fires that destroyed buildings during the weekend. The Palouse River Fire near Colfax was 40% contained as of Monday after growing to 637 acres. Evacuation alerts for that area were downgraded to Level 2 (Be Ready) after firefighters slowed the fire’s progress. The evacuation alert is expected to be downgraded again to Level 1, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The Wells Road Fire near Malden and Rosalia grew to 1,812 acres and was still 0% contained as of Monday afternoon.