Fire season hits Adams County

The final week in July and into the beginning of August proved to be busy for local fire districts as they rushed to extinguish multiple fires in the surrounding area. With the combination of dry conditions, heat and storms, firefighters covered the countryside assisting with accidents and fires.

The Ritzville Fire Department responded to a fully engulfed combine and wheat fire on Wednesday, July 30, just after 3 p.m. Due to the knowledge of the combine being on fire, the Ritzville siren sounded to call all hands on deck.

The fire began in the combine located in a field near Klein Road and Neergaard Road, just past the Schoessler Road overpass. The driver of the combine, John Galbreath, was fortunate to escape unharmed. With a strong breeze blowing that day, the combine was fortunately pointed into the wind, causing the fire to roll out the back of the combine instead of immediately moving forward into the cab.

Adams County Fire District No. 1 Chief Scott Kembel reported six vehicles responded to the scene, including two tankers, from Ritzville. Dwayne Hummel and the Harder Fire District also assisted the district. Ron Hennings and K3 Ranch also brought water trucks to the scene to assist if needed.

Kembel credited Hummel as being a lifesaver and being crucial to helping contain the blaze to an estimated 50 acres. Hummel resides next to the field and had a disk hooked up to a tractor. He responded immediately and made multiple passes around the field, creating a fire barrier.

Upon arriving at the field, the Ritzville crews spread out to extinguish the fire rolling through the field. Kembel said only stubble burned and no standing wheat was lost in the fire.

Just prior to the tone out for the combine fire, the Lind Fire Department responded to a fire in the median on State Route 395 at milepost 78. The firefighters were able to put out the fire before it crossed the roadway, but it burned a significant portion of the hillside CRP ground.

Lind Fire Chief Kevin Starring said the district has been fortunate this year with the lack of fires, but spent a significant amount of time chasing fires started by lightning on Friday afternoon and Saturday evening.

A storm passed through Lind mid-afternoon on Friday, Aug. 1, with multiple fires being reported in the area. Lind Fire Department had two trucks out responding to a variety of calls throughout the district, but all the fires were small and extinguished quickly.

At 2:15 p.m. on Aug. 1, Ritzville Fire Department responded to an agency assist call in Lincoln County. The wheat field fire located in Keystone required multiple districts to respond to help battle the blaze.

Ritzville responded with two brush trucks, a tanker and a plow truck, Kembel said. The Harder Fire Disrict also provided assistance at the Friday blaze, which claimed nearly 200 acres of wheat.

While the Ritzville crews were helping with the mop up of the fire, the storm began rolling through Ritzville and the trucks returned when multiple fire calls were received. Kembel said the calls did not result in fires, but the trucks still remained in the area as a precaution.

On Saturday evening, the Ritzville, Lind, Benge and Washtucna Fire Departments all responded to lightning strike fires in their districts. While the majority of the fires were extinguished with the rain that followed the storm, Ritzville was toned out to a rolling CRP fire on Rosenoff Road.

Kembel said the call came in just before 11 p.m. on Saturday, and six rigs responded to the scene. While in route, another fire call was received from Sage Road and multiple trucks broke off to respond to the additional call. The rain extinguished the Sage Road call, Kembel explained.

The Ritzville crews remained on the scene for nearly three hours battling the Rosenoff CRP fire. Kembel said the initial rain assisted crews, but then the wind picked up and helped spread the fire.

Kembel said the plow truck was used to create a boundary that proved crucial in putting out the fire. He estimated 30 acres of CRP ground was lost in the blaze.

In Washtucna, the fire department first responded to a rollover accident around 10:30 p.m. on State Route 26.

The district then responded to lightning strike fires in the area, which were put out by the rain following the storm.

At 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 3, the Lind Fire Department was toned out for a one-vehicle collision on Highway 395.

Fire crews remained on scene and assisted law enforcement with blocking off a portion of the freeway in order for one of the victims to be taken via MedStar to the hospital.

On Aug. 4, the Ritzville Fire Department responded to a two vehicle collision on Interstate 90 and while at the scene, were toned out to a vehicle fire on 395.

The fire had been extinguished by the time fire crews arrived at the scene.