Dust causes multiple-vehicle collision and wild land fire, closes US 395

Strong winds on Friday afternoon carried thick dust over Adams County, producing zero visibility in some areas and causing two major emergencies on US 395.

Emergency crews first toned out to a multiple-vehicle collision on Northbound 395, 10 miles south of Ritzville, at 1:15 p.m on Aug. 14. Within an hour, another collision occurred 14 miles south of the scene, resulting in a fire.

Ritzville Fire Department, Lind Fire Department and Ritzville EMTs responded immediately to the pile up collision on 395. With the wind carrying dust directly up the highway, emergency responders battled the elements to find those in need of medical attention.

The strong wind continued to produce moments of black out conditions, but crews remained vigilant to determine the individuals with the most serious injuries at the scene. An estimated 30 vehicles incurred severe damage, with an estimated 50 total vehicles being involved at the scene.

Ritzville and Washtucna ambulance crews made two trips from the collision site to the hospital, with only minor injuries being reported. Ritzville Emergency Medical Service Coordinator Roni Kinney said 11 people were transported with minor injuries.

Due to the rush as East Adams Rural Hospital, some of those involved were transported to Spokane to help with treatments.

Drivers at the scene reported traveling northbound and as the wind picked up behind them, visibility began to quickly decrease. Multiple drivers reported seeing the vehicle ahead hitting the brakes, but were unable to stop before colliding with another vehicle.

The majority of those involved in the collision reported sore necks or bruises, as airbags deployed and the impact jostled travelers in their vehicles.

Despite the gravity of the situations, travelers remained in good spirits and worked to exchange insurance information and to contact the onsite Washington State Patrol troopers. Those travelers who had water or sports drinks in their vehicles walked through the collision scene, dispersing the beverages as needed.

Other travelers with EMT and emergency responder backgrounds rushed to aid injured travelers until first responders arrived on scene. Some continued to help carry patients on backboards after many firefighters were dispatched to another scene.

While Lind and Ritzville firefighters attended to the injured and assisted with loading patients, the Lind Fire Department received a call out for a collision and fire at Milepost 71 on Northbound 395. The initial reports stated one semi truck was fully engulfed in flames, and the fire had quickly spread to the neighboring CRP field.

Due to the severity of the collisions, Washington State Patrol issued a request to close both directions of travel on 395, spanning from Ritzville to Highway 26.

The closure allowed emergency crews to work to contain and assist at both locations, while vehicles trapped on the freeway were provided with alternate routes of travel.

Because of the amount of vehicles involved in the initial collision, Othello EMS began to travel to assist at the scene. Before they could reach the scene, due to the traffic backlog, they responded to the second call, involving an estimated 10 vehicles further south on the freeway.

Lind Fire Chief Kevin Starring asked the Ritzville Fire Department to bring one brush truck from the collision scene to assist with the fire. Starring said the Lind Fire Department emptied the station, bringing six brush trucks to the scene.

Starring said when arriving at the scene, two semi trucks were already fully engulfed. Due to the strong winds, Starring said the department had to forgo attempting to extinguish the trucks and move on to attacking the quickly moving field fire.

The fire had spread to both sides of 395, but the crews focused on getting ahead of flames on the east side of the highway. Starring said surrounding districts were toned out to help provide mutual aid, and Lind quickly had the support of multiple departments.

Starring said over 20 trucks from Ritzville, Washtucna, Warden, Connell, Othello and Lind worked together to battle the blaze. Most departments also responded with tankers, while area farmers joined in to assist by bringing water trucks to the scene.

Ryan Kuch provided the firefighters on the east side of the fire by plowing the fire line, while Randy Kulm used his plow on the west side to assist firefighters in maintaining the blaze.

The crews struggled to communicate in the secluded area, with radios dropping out of range and the visibility being near zero due to smoke and dust. Starring remobilized the group and created a plan, allowing a couple of trucks to split off to attack the blaze on the west side of the road.

Starring said the blaze moved quicker on the west side than he had imagined it would, and it burned a vacant house and shed.

He estimated the fire burned nearly three miles of the median and west portion of the highway, with the fire claiming over 2,000 acres total. Starring said the acreage was 80 percent CRP ground, with the remainder of the fire burning stubble fields.

Along with assistance at the scene, Starring said Emergency Management Director Jay Weise helped the crews. The Town of Lind employees also assisted with loading tankers in town, while local community members made food and provided water for the fire crews.

As the emergency situations continued, the Lind-Warden Road also underwent a road closure because of increased traffic.

Adams County Public Works Director Todd O’Brien said it was the only county road closed due to the situation, and was closed as a precaution to not cause more accidents in the inclement weather and overcrowding on the road.

Adams County District No. 2 Fire Chief Scott Kembel said the Ritzville crews cleared the major collision site around 4 p.m., while the truck at the fire returned to the station around 6 p.m.

Starring said some Lind crew members remained on a truck for 14 hours on Friday, with a few trucks not returning to the station until 3 a.m. on Saturday. The majority of the Lind trucks remained at the scene for seven hours.

Lind crews also returned to the scene of the fire on Saturday morning and assisted with washing the roadway. A total of four semi trucks and three pick-up trucks burned in the fire, with other vehicles being totaled from the collision.

US 395 remained closed for nearly 24 hours, allowing towing crews to remove vehicles and allow Washington State Patrol to complete reports.

“We want to express our total thanks to everyone that was involved in helping in that mess, from the first accident all the way to the fire,” Starring said. “It went well for how chaotic it was.”

Starring and Kembel expressed their gratitude for all emergency responders, as well as dispatchers who helped crews communicate during the two extreme emergencies.