The residents who evacuated from the Cowiche Mill fire 10 miles west of Yakima, Washington were moving their valuables back into their homes on Monday. Firefighters virtually stopped the spread of the fire, assisted by the fact that in some areas it ran out of burnable vegetation as the fire bumped up against agricultural land.
As things calm down, firefighters are able to more accurately assess the size and damages, refining the acreage from 10,000 to 6,200, and reducing the number of homes burned from three down to one unoccupied house plus two outbuildings. Fire crews were able to save several homes, and many residents prevented fire damage by having tile roofs and by previously removing flammable vegetation.
The injured firefighters are back at work
The three firefighters that were injured when their engine got overrun by the fire are doing fine. They were treated for smoke inhalation, a twisted ankle, and one had some minor burns on his ears but they returned to the fireline after their visit to the hospital Sunday evening. The engine was totally destroyed, and in one picture was almost unrecognizable as a piece of fire apparatus.
The firefighters had driven down a driveway to protect a home, but the wind shifted and they were unable to turn their large engine around. They escaped from the truck as it was engulfed by the fire and took refuge in a field where sprinklers were running.
Isn’t turning your truck “heading for home” or towards your egress route taught in basic wildfire suppression education?
Not saying these boys were neglagent, i’m sure there was a lot of factors contributing to the loss of the engine.
Glad they’re safe!
Daaang… thats a close one boys.