Sunday fire destroys home near Mattawa

MATTAWA — A Mattawa-area home was destroyed in an early evening fire Sunday

Grant County Fire District 8 Chief Matt Hyndman said no one was injured.

“They were all at church, and unfortunately came home to their house burned down,” Hyndman said.

Fire District 8 crews responded to the fire on Road U.3, west of Mattawa, at about 5 p.m., Hyndman said, arriving to find about half the structure, a doublewide mobile home, in flames. What didn’t burn sustained heavy damage from the smoke, he said.

“Everything is a total loss, just from the smoke damage,” he said.

The residents were renting the home and neither they nor the property owner had insurance, Hyndman said.

The cause is undetermined.

Fire crews were on the scene for about three and a half hours, he said. Grant County Fire District 10 crews provided additional help.

“We only had about three (firefighters) for the first 30 minutes,” he said. “Half of my crew was on a medical call.”

A crew from GCFD 10 responded from Beverly with a tender and command unit, he said. Eight firefighters were on the scene between the two crews.

Like many fire departments, Hyndman said GCFD 8 has fewer volunteers than it used to, although a few more people are showing interest.

“We are seeing a little bit of an uptick in people wanting to volunteer,” Hyndman said.

GCFD 8 personnel are teaching an EMT class which has attracted nine people, he said, a larger turnout than usual. The district does have a number of people who stop by and ask for applications, he said, and about 25% of them go on to apply.

People can get an application on the GCFD 8 website, www.gcfd8.net, but Hyndman said he would recommend coming to the station, 20643 Road 22.5 SW, in person. Applicants can learn about the job and tour the station, he said. He suggested that prospective applicants learn as much as they can.

“We encourage people to do a ridealong with us,” he said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.