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SAN JUAN COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT #1 (SAN JUAN ISLAND) |
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Island firefighters save homes from state's largest wildfireStory by Matt Pranger
Burned Home - Only one home was lost to the fire. When the San Juan Crews arrived, the home was already heavily involved. The home was the only one in the neighborhood with a wood shake roof, which apparently ignited from the rainfall of burning embers that proceeded the fire front. posted 08/23/04
San Juan Island Fire District Chief Bill McLaughlin and firefighters Sara Ennenga and Doug Maya, working from one of the island's brush fire trucks, fought part of the Fischer Fire near Cashmere. They were assigned structure protection during the night. The first two nights they cut back brush and dug fire lines around homes, McLaughlin said. They also assisted with the evacuation of 275 residents. Those preventative measures proved crucial as the fire -- the top priority in the nation at the time -- gained momentum. | |
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Fischer Fire Staging - Firefighters Doug Maya and Sara Ennenga check in at the Fischer Fire Staging area. The fire was producing a smoke column that grew to 38,000 feet by later that afternoon. (8/15)
Fire on the Hillside - On the evening of the 18th, the fire moved into Olalla Canyon, burning fiercely. The fire was moving at speeds up to 300 feet per minute and creating spot fires up to ¾ of a mile ahead of the main fire.
Spot Fires - As the fire engines arrived, fires were erupting all around the homes from a blizzard of fire embers. Soon those spot fires would grow together to form a fire front approximately one mile wide that burned through Olalla Canyon in a matter of less one hour.
Morning After - Some 35 homes were in this section of the canyon. They were defended through the night by San Juan Island's Brush 312 along with four engines from Snohomish County and 4 from Mason County. Two structures were damaged, and several others scorched. |
"The fire grew 3,000 acres in one hour," McLaughlin. "It was burning at 300 feet a minute." San Juan Island's firefighters were dispatched to Ollala Canyon. When they arrived there, one home was engulfed and two were on fire in the neighborhood of 35 residences. The firefighters, equipped for brush firefighting, ripped open walls with shovels. "We kept it down to one home and two damaged homes," said McLaughlin. "This could well have been a California-size disaster," McLaughlin said. "Even 15 minutes later the number of homes lost might have been 20 more." At one point, firefighting strategists were concerned that the fire might jump a highway and spread into the town of Cashmere, said McLaughlin, who returned to San Juan Island Friday, Aug. 20. With the Fischer Fire 85 percent contained, San Juan Island's brush truck with Ennenga, Maya and Kyle Davies, who joined the fire fight late last week, was expected to return Sunday, Aug. 22, 2004. Islanders can learn from the Eastern Washington fire. "The one home that was lost had a wood-shake roof and wood-shake siding with vegetation on its sides," McLaughlin said. "Embers from a fire a half-mile away ignited it." "I can't stress enough that wood roofs are bad business," McLaughlin said. Islanders are also encouraged to keep the woods away from their homes. The fire danger in the islands decreased after half an inch of rain fell on Aug. 21 but McLauglin reminded islanders that September can be dry. He explained the state's worst day for wildfires was Sept. 11, 1902. Blazes erupted from Eugene, Oregon to Bellingham. A major fire also burned on Orcas Island. "The rain helps but were not out of the woods yet," McLaughlin said. |
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