Fire ravages fair’s horse barn

In early morning light on Wednesday, the charred skeleton of the horse barn overlooked the Wheat Land Communities’ Fairgrounds. Its metal roofing warped and twisted from the heat of the raging fire that raced through the wooden structure Tuesday night.

The fire was first reported at 9:25 p.m. as a possible brush fire. It took just a few moments to realize the situation was much worse, as Ritzville Police Sergeant Mark Cameron was first on scene and found the horse barn engulfed in flames from end to end with fire rolling out both sides of the long structure.

The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office will handle the investigation. Sheriff John Hunt was not available for comment prior to The Journal’s Wednesday morning press deadline.

County Fire Chief Scott Kembel called for the entire fire department when he realized the intensity of the fire.

“We just come around the corner and saw that thing and thought ‘holy smokes,’” Kembel said. “I was just shocked at how involved that thing was.”

Kembel immediately radioed for crews to bring the city’s large fire pumper. When it arrived, they tapped a fire hydrant at the fairgrounds with a large diameter hose, connecting it to the pumper and bringing to life the massive deck gun on top of the truck’s hose bed.

The deck gun allowed crews to pour large volumes of water into the burning structure from the top, while firefighters surrounded the building and worked to douse the flames from all sides.

Within an hour, the majority of the active fire was extinguished. Crews would continue to wrestle with heavy smoke, heat and flames for several hours, as the barn was filled with wheat straw bales stored there last winter.

Ritzville Public Works Director Larry Swift, also a volunteer firefighter, called in the city’s crews and used backhoes to drag the smoldering straw out of the building’s shell so crews could break it up and saturate it with water and foam.

City crew employees Justin Ziebell and David Breazeale responded to operate the equipment.

Layne Iltz of The McGregor Company also responded to the scene with a water tanker to help firefighters maintain a steady flow of water on the blaze.

“I can’t say enough about all the help we got from everybody,” Kembel said.

The fire chief said he started releasing crews and equipment about 1 a.m. The last of the crews cleared the scene shortly after 2 a.m.

A small flare up of the fire was reported about 5:30 a.m. and doused by firefighters in just a couple of minutes.

The fire department response included 15 firefighters, and seven trucks and tankers.

“I think the guys did a really good job,” Kembel said.

There were no injuries reported.

Fritz Coon, president of the fair’s governing board, said the fair will rebuild and hopes the insurance coverage will provide for replacement. He said the fair does carry individual building insurance.

“It was all wooden construction. It was a pretty building,” Coon said of the equestrian facility.

He said the stables were constructed in the late 1980s when the fairgrounds were being raised at the location. He wasn’t certain of the actual date of construction.

Coon said the barn also stored some of the elements used for the horse related activities held during the fair.

He did not know at press time the value of the building or its contents.

The fire left little to salvage and Coon said the news was tough to take.

“You look at all the loss of your effort that went into constructing that building,” he said. “And, all the kids that have used it during fairs and activities and the occasional horse clinics. That pretty building was sitting on the highest spot on the grounds. If you were ever up there you could look back over the fairgrounds and get a great look at how nice our grounds are.”

The fair will have to await the insurance company’s determinations before any action can be taken.

Coon said it will be challenging to raise a new barn of that quality in time for the Labor Day weekend fair.