Lind, Ritzville respond to rural structure blaze

Fire season continues to hit hard in Adams County as Lind and Ritzville Fire Departments responded to a structure fire on Thursday, Aug. 18.

Lind Assistant Fire Chief Rubben Labes said they received the call of the small stubble fire on East Weber road near Highway 21 around 11:30 a.m. to which Lind responded with four brush trucks, a water tanker and a rescue vehicle, and quickly requested mutual aide from Ritzville.

The fire quickly spread and took out two buildings, which became a threat to the surrounding power poles, trees and home. As the crew arrived on scene, the flames had completely engulfed a garage, a pump house and a workshop located on the property.

The Adams County Fire Protection District No. 1 Fire Chief Scott Kembel said they responded with two brush trucks, a water tanker and a city ladder truck.

Kembel said there were reports of possible fuel tanks beside one of the affected structures.

This caused urgency to prevent the fire from reaching these tanks he said. When they arrived, Kembel said he did not see the fuel tanks but did notice a propane tank in the workshop and it is unknown if it ruptured during the blaze.

As Ritzville brush trucks arrived, the flames jumped to the nearby stubble wheat field and threatened to spread further. The Ritzville brush trucks arrived on scene just in time to extinguish the start of the field fire before it claimed more property.

The fire quickly consumed a garage, workshop and two vehicles. The crews worked tirelessly to try and prevent the fire from spreading to the nearby barn and house, which were both threatened.

In order to attack the fire from a better angle, Kembel requested his crew use the ladder truck to extinguish the flames from above. Kembel said this was the first time the crew had the opportunity to use the ladder truck in a rural fire setting.

The ladder truck allowed for the crew to attack the fire from the air and extinguish any hidden hot spots not noticeable from the ground.

After the flames had been knocked down, the workshop, poles and surrounding affected vehicles continued to smoke and burn. The crews continued to drench the scorched areas in water from above and on the ground, trying to extinguish any hot spots, which could spark again and rekindle the blaze.

To help extinguish the hot spots, a Harder-McCall brush truck and water tanker arrived on scene. The additional assistance helped smother all remaining small burning areas on the power poles and burning vehicles.

As the crews continued checking for hot spots, the nearby barn began burning. Noticing this just in time, the crews were able to stop the burning and try and remove personal property from the barn said Kembel. The barn contained mostly old tractors and tools, which were not affected by the sudden burning.

The crews proceeded to drench the barn in water in order to prevent it from catching fire again. Due to the age of the barn, Kembel said if it had caught fire, it would have been extremely difficult to try and preserve the structure in entirety, as well as control the spread of the flames.

After the burning had been mostly contained, Labes released the Ritzville fire crew and most of the Lind crew by 2 p.m. Due to the slight increase in wind, Lind firefighters remained on scene, until about 5 p.m. checking for hot spots and ensuring the safety of the property.

The Ritzville Fire Department reportedly used about 9,000 gallons of water during the fire, said Kembel. He stated the Ritzville crew remained on scene for three hours before heading back to the station.

Big Bend Electric Cooperative eventually arrived on the property to repair the power poles and power lines affected by the flames. The cause of the fire is under investigation at this time.