Tired volunteers put out 1,200-acre wildfire
Smoke billows from the Royal Slope wild fire last week along Highway 26 near the Grant-Adams County line. It was taken from the hill top near Danielson Road. The Nigard feed lot is in the foreground.
ROYAL CITY - After a wildfire that burned 1,250 acres at the east end of the Royal Slope last week, Grant County Fire Districts Nos. 10-11 Chief Brian Evans is asking residents to be cautious.
"It's deceptively green out there," he said. "It really is dry, and they are predicting a drier-than-normal summer."
A preliminary investigation indicates the fire was started by a truck passing on the highway. Evans said a piece of carbon, such as that which builds up and then blows out of an exhaust stack, was found where the fire is believed to have started.
The Royal Slope Fire, which cost more than $215,000 to battle, required the work of 104 volunteer firefighters, Evans said. That's not counting paid chiefs, incident commanders and the like.
"They are tired," Evans said. "Most of them fought the fire all night and then went to work the next day."
Evans said the alarm for this fire came in at 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday. It took until Saturday morning to be fully contained.
The fire was located near milepost 30 on Highway 26, or at the Grant-Adams County line. Districts 10 and 11 were first to respond. Also responding were Adams County 5, Grant County 4, 5 and 13, Ephrata City and strike forces from Spokane and Chelan Counties.
The incident management team was from the Tri-Cities. The incident commander was Lonnie Click, a Royal High School graduate who is a member of the Hanford Fire Department.
"They came from all over eastern Washington," said Evans, who got very little sleep during the blaze.