Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Only about five miles from Odessa, the leading edge of the fire line was burning toward Batum Road Saturday evening after having begun in the Black Rock Road area of Grant County earlier that day.
An aerial view of the same fire shows much of the approximately 16,000 acres of scrub brush and wheat stubble that burned.
Saturday turned out to be a very hectic day for area firefighters and, ultimately, for firefighters throughout the state as hot temperatures and breezy conditions rapidly turned small fires into major conflagrations. By evening, a pall of smoke covered the town of Odessa, as fire crews worked to hold the leading edge of the fire line at Batum Road, about five miles outside of town on Highway 28.
Firefighters from many other jurisdictions poured into Odessa, setting up a command center at the school, pitching tents on the playground for some overnight rest and meeting in the elementary school courtyard for the 6 a.m. briefing prior to hitting the fire lines once more.
Members of the Future Business Leaders of America chapter from Odessa High School also mobilized and served up meals to the hungry crews. It was a repeat, on a local scale, of the work the same group performed last summer as wildfires ravaged the northeast corner of the state, all but destroying the town of Pateros and wreaking havoc with livestock herds in the surrounding hills.
By Monday, crews were mopping up and monitoring hot spots, hoping to prevent a flareup once the forecast breezy conditions arrived again on Tuesday.
Our readers will see from the many thank-you notices in today's paper that the entire community and surrounding farms all pitched in the save farm homes from destruction. Although a small number of outbuildings were lost to the flames, no homes burned and no major evacuations were required.
Reports from Grant and Lincoln County officials and other emergency management personnel are summarized below.
State fire assistance was mobilized under the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan in support of local firefighters working to contain the Black Rock Road Fire in Grant County near the town of Wilson Creek. Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste authorized the mobilization of state firefighting resources on July 30, 2016, at 4 p.m. at the request of Chief Scott Mortimore, Grant County Fire District 12.
The fire started at approximately 12:24 p.m. on July 30, 2016. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The fire was reported to have grown to an estimated 28,000 acres but that figure was later revised downward to 16,000 acres. It threatened 25 residences, crops, livestock and sage grouse habitat.
Mobilization specialists from the Fire Protection Bureau ordered five strike teams to supplement the resources already fighting the fire.
The State Emergency Operations Center at Camp Murray was activated to Level 2 to coordinate state assistance for the Black Rock Fire. State Fire Marshal personnel were on scene to coordinate dispatch of resources, and personnel were staffing the state operations center.
Under the State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan, the Fire Protection Bureau coordinates the initial dispatch and continued administrative oversight of resources and personnel for the duration of the incident. The Mobilization Plan is implemented to provide a process to quickly notify, assemble and deploy fire service personnel, equipment and other resources from around the state when fires, disasters or other events exceed the capacity of local jurisdictions. More information about the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan is available at http://www.wsp.wa.gov/fire/mobilization.htm.
The 16,000 acre Black Rock Road Fire was fully contained, according to the Grant County Sheriff's Office said, as of 6 p.m. Monday and was expected to hold throughout the heavy winds predicted for Tuesday. The area was under a red flag warning Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Patrols of the fire lines were turned over to local fire districts as the Northeast Washington Incident Management Team and firefighters from across the state prepared to demobilize and return home. The fire started Saturday at noon and threatened homes, but no evacuations were necessary. No homes were damaged, but some outbuildings and cattle were lost.
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office reported that better on-the-ground data from the field reduced the overall acreage of the Black Rock Road Fire to just over 16,000 acres. Crews made excellent progress throughout Sunday and overnight, preventing the fire from spreading. Fire suppression objectives were met by both day and night shifts with the assistance of favorable weather conditions. Work continued to eliminate all hot spots around the perimeter of the fire and near structures in anticipation of a cold front bringing windy conditions Tuesday morning.
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