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With last week’s fire – which scorched over 1,000 acres, 11 homes destroyed and caused millions of dollars in damage – mostly contained and who started it identified, clean up efforts in Dishman Hills continue.
Nearly 500 firefighters from throughout the Northwest have converged on what has been termed the Valley View fire since it was first sparked by an out-of-control recreational fire on the afternoon of July 10. Camped at Horizon Middle School, firefighters set up a virtual tent city to rest up between shifts. No one was going home four days after the fire started – and it was nearly 80-percent contained – due to high-wind warnings on Tuesday.
“We’ve still got some work to do,” Spokane Valley Fire Chief Mike
Thompson said Monday, adding that there were still some hot spots that needed to be suppressed before the winds came. “It’s not over yet.”
The origin of the blaze was traced to an “unapproved, unextinguished recreational fire” on property in the area of the 1800 block of South Eastern. Tracy Berg supervised the fire on July 7 on land adjacent to her property, said Bill Clifford, spokesman for the Spokane Valley Fire Department. The area in question is within the jurisdiction of Fire District 8.
On the day of the fire, a Red Flag warning had been issued from noon to 10 p.m. due to high winds and low humidity, Clifford added.
“Gusty winds reignited the recreational fire, which spread to the forested area,” he said.
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| Smoke billows above homes and treetops on Dishman-Mica north of 32nd Avenue just before 6 p.m. on July 10. |
A governor-issued state of emergency declaration has made it possible for Spokane Valley to get the needed assistance from the Department of Natural Resources to fight the fire.
“I am prepared to do what it takes to get these fires under control,” Gov.
Christine Gregoire – who flew to Spokane the evening of the fire – said from a temporary command post set up at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3606 S. Schafer, the evening of the fire. “We must do whatever we can to protect people, animals, property, economy and environment.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay about 70 percent of the estimated $1 million-plus cost to fight the fire, according to Dale Warriner, spokesman for DNR.
Crews from as far away as King County and Rosalia were still on the scene earlier this week. They were expected to be able to start returning home Thursday.
Thompson said he was pleased by the way the newcomers were able to integrate with his staff.
“From my perspective, the area coordination was outstanding,” he said.
There had been some concerns that communication among crew members could be a problem. Spokane County voters recently passed a .01 of 1 percent sales tax increase in order to fund technology upgrades for the emergency responders’ radios and other equipment. It would also include a reverse 9-1-1 system in which residents would be called and given information – such as evacuation orders – in case of an emergency. That vote passed in April, and none of the improvements have yet to take place.
“It would have been wonderful if we’d had had that,” Thompson said of the reverse 9-1-1 system. Instead, information was relayed to residents via patrol cars with speakers and local broadcast media.
Thompson said there is a mobile command vehicle that is able to route radio signals onto the proper channels so firefighters are able to talk to one another. A few glitches aside, the system worked well, he said.
Investigators combed the hillside over the weekend and found that 11 homes, five outbuildings, five sheds and numerous vehicles were lost as the wind-driven flames swept eastward. Homes were destroyed at 2324, 2527, 2602, 2801, 2804, 2805, 2807, 2817, 2819 and 3002 S. Park; 8112 and 8210 E. Lewis; 8419 and 9400 E. 24th Ave.; and 2324 S. Dishman. Cost estimates for the homes ranged from $130,000 to nearly $2 million.
The fire, which is believed to have started in a wooded area near South Valleyview Lane, swept nearly to Dishman-Mica Road. For a time, residents were asked to evacuate their homes in the Ponderosa area and from Park to University, 48th Avenue to Sprague.
Berg’s home was not one of the ones destroyed.
This isn’t the first time Ponderosa residents have been forced to evacuate. The firestorm of 1991 – which destroyed 15 homes there – also forced an evacuation of the area. This time, however, things went more smoothly – despite the fact there are only two main access roads into the neighborhood.
“Back then, we had so many people trying to come in and look,” Thompson said. “We blocked access and didn’t allow anybody in who wasn’t supposed to be there.”
Many of those residents were allowed to return to their homes Friday morning, except for those living at the fire’s epicenter.
The fire was just one of many burning in the area, fueled by hot, dry conditions and powerful winds. Blazes were also battled in Chelan, Douglas, Stevens, Adams and Ferry counties.
Spokane Valley Mayor Richard Munson said that the response by public safety officials was “excellent.”
“We owe everything – we owe our city (to the firefighters),” he said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “It was a big effort.”
He warned, however, that fire season only started July 1 and continues through October.
“The fire danger is real,” he said.
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By
Mike Huffman
