Fire district works beneath electrical hazard

Fire restarts the following day

MOSES LAKE - Grant County Fire District No. 5 firefighters worked under a potential electrical hazard to extinguish a fire on Dodson Road Tuesday night.

The fire began after 5 p.m. in a potato cellar storage area on Dodson Road near Interstate 90, Battalion Chief Rick Wentworth said.

The Grant County Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the cause of the fire

The fire damaged wooden potato pallets packed with sugar beet seedlings, he said. The seedlings are stored in the pallets to keep from freezing and were prepared to be shipped to farms for planting.

Wentworth said the fire district worked in a dangerous environment while extinguishing the fire. Bonneville power lines loomed above their heads and the fire, he said.

The power lines, generating approximately 230,000 volts of electricity were eventually shut off, Wentworth said. Power lines have an ability to generate electrical arcs within the smoke, he added.

Fire department officials remained on the scene soaking hot spots and cleaning the area until early the next morning, Wentworth said.

The fire rekindled at approximately 6 a.m. Wednesday and was extinguished a second time.

No injuries were reported during either incident.