March 20, 2008

Washtucna Motel torched for firefighter training

Journal photo by Jennifer Larsen

Control. Washtucna Fire Department Chief Brian Dainty prepares to send two firefighters into the black smoke roiling from the charred timbers of the Washtucna Motel for training in use of SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) units. After receiving the appropriate permits, the fire department lit the structure early last Saturday morning.

By Jennifer Larsen

News editor

Washtucna firefighters spent most of the day last Saturday setting fire to the Washtucna Motel on the corner of Highway 261 and Highway 26.

Work began around 9 a.m., and an hour later the controlled burn had engulfed one room of the motel.

Fire chief Brian Dainty and property owner Syd Sullivan have worked with the state’s Department of Ecology since about August of 2007 to prepare the property for burning and acquire the necessary permits.

DOE required completion of asbestos abatement and removing the tar roof, as well as numerous inspections and approval processes before issuing a fire training burn permit. Dainty received the permit last Friday.

“DOE was easy to work with. I know it was a long process, but with the safety issues… DOE was pleasant to work with,” Dainty said.

By the end of the day, firefighters had completed pumper truck, initial attack, SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) and confined space training.

Sullivan believes the motel was moved to Washtucna in the early 1950s from either Wanapum Dam in Grant County or Vernita on the Columbia River.

Local residents Dwayne Blankenship and Joe Huddle arranged for the structure’s relocation. A third partner, Harry Mace, reassembled the motel and installed a brick wall between the two buildings, Sullivan said.

That very brick wall, and moisture permeating the entire structure, hampered efforts to start fires in each room. Firefighters initially used flares to ignite the timbers, but eventually resorted to using a flammable liquid with the flares before the controlled fire started to take off.