LITTLE TO NO RESOURCES! "WHEN A WASHINGTON STATE FIRE CHIEF CALLED FOR HELP...AND THERE WAS NONE"
Thursday, August 20, 2015
As the flames drew closer, the fire chief called and called for help. But three other major wildfires were burning in Stevens County, Wash., and no one was left to respond.
Whipped by 40- to 50-mph winds, the new blaze on the Spokane Reservation sent up a column of smoke as it churned north toward a rural community of about 2,000 people east of the Columbia River.
The only thing that stood in the way: Stevens County Fire District 2 Chief Rick Anderson and his small crew of volunteers.
For almost 24 hours, Anderson and 11 other firefighters fought the blaze alone, with pickup trucks carrying 300-gallon water tanks.
It was a costly and deeply personal battle waged on home turf, with two firefighters battling to save their parents’ home, another defending his in-laws’ house, and another losing 120 acres of his timber to the flames.
There aren't enough firefighters to fight all the Western wildfires.
Anderson watched the flames cross a road named for his grandfather and counted even more personal losses.
The fire near Fruitland started Friday night and remained out of control Wednesday, still threatening houses and adding to the mounting toll of destruction from this year’s fire season.
Fires currently burning have scorched more than 1.2 million acres, mostly in the Northwest, and dozens of homes have been destroyed.
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-washington-fire-chief-20150819-story.html
The Chief Gets A Hug...But Needs More
Than That
