Volunteers douse area wheat, stubble blazes

Fire crews have been busy during the past week, tackling stubble and standing wheat blazes in the region. Tuesday the Lind crews were summoned to a 500-acre stubble and grass fire along State Route 26 near the fertilizer plant a couple miles west of the Hatton turn off.

Crews raced out of Lind shortly after 12 p.m. and remained in the field until about 1:40 p.m. Fire Chief Don Klemmer said the town sent five trucks including a tanker and rescue rig.

They received assistance from the Johnson family and fire fighting crews from Connell, Warden and Othello. The Hutterians also provided a water truck.

Klemmer said a bearing on a combine auger was to blame for the fire. No standing wheat was lost in the blaze.

Ritzville’s fire crews raced to a stubble field fire Tuesday along Danekas road east of the Tokio exit on Interstate 90. The crews knocked down the fire and mopped up within an hour.

The most dramatic blaze broke out on Wednesday, Aug. 1, sending huge flames into the sky along State Route 261 near Presnell Road.

The blaze charred about 250 acres according to Fire Chief Scott Kemble.

The blaze raced through stubble in a field farmed by Steve Taylor and torched standing wheat owned by Willard Hennings.

Kembel said the fire appears to have started from a mechanical issue on a combine.

The Ritzville volunteers were quickly joined in the fight by crews from Benge, Lind, Harder and Washtucna. Several farmers also raced to the scene bringing additional manpower and truck loads of water.

Taylor and Bob Walli both provided large tractors and discs to help cut fire breaks and prevent the spread of the fire. Several farm crews including Eberts, Hennings, Olson and Kinch responded, and brought much needed water supplies.

Kembel expressed extreme gratitude for all the assitance that was provided during the hot weather blaze. He also acknowledged the Washington State Patrol for its efforts to close SR 261 as flames reached the edge of the roadway several times.

Crews, attacking the head of the fire from two sides, knocked down the standing wheat fire before strong winds could carry flames across SR 261 into a large stubble field.

A couple of Ritzville firefighters suffered minor burns at the peak of the fire as they tried to stop its spread through the standing wheat.