Recent fires show the season is here

Local firefighters were busy over the last couple weeks, from fighting wildland fires to attending to one right behind the fire station in Grand Coulee.

Firefighters were called to help on a large fire that burned more than 2,000 acres just north of Soap Lake a couple weeks ago that garnered a state fire mobilization after two Grant county-wide calls slowed it down, said Grand Coulee Fire Chief Rick Paris. It took several days to control.

Last Wednesday, a fire north of Rebecca Lake Road drew every local agency in a rapid response amid significant winds, including two Fireboss aircraft. It was stopped that night.

“As Grand Coulee volunteers were readying their equipment after that fire, they received a call for a small wildland fire out on Plum Point Road in Lincoln County,” Paris stated. “They responded with four wildland engines and 12 firefighters.”

Landowners and neighbors had contained it with garden hoses, but firefighters extinguished it and mopped it up to make sure it wouldn’t start again.

Saturday afternoon Grand Coulee firefighters were called to a fire threatening structures behind the NAPA Auto Parts store and their own fire station in Grand Coulee, where a small fire was spreading along the back side of the store. Started by discarded charcoal briquettes, it was quickly put out and the person responsible is still being sought, Paris said.

“Unfortunately for firefighters, there is a prediction for above-normal temperatures and drier-than-normal conditions,” Paris said, “also more than normal thunderstorms and winds for July and August.

“The firefighters would like to remind everyone to be careful with their outdoor activities — recreational, work and lawn care. As was proven by the recent fires, it does not take much to start a fire and for it to quickly get out of control.”