SPOKANE, Wash. – Todd Graves, a retired firefighter, says he was in his shop when he started to smell smoke, and then the smell intensified.
“We got to the end of the shop and looked back there, and there was another fire with spot fires over here,” said Graves.
Spokane County Fire District 3 Chief Cody Rohrbach told NonStop Local that the flames around Graves’ home were around 100ft. Graves’s home was saved, but he lost his shop, where he runs his business.
Chief Rohrbach, a close friend of Graves, said due to the conditions, the fire was hard to access.
“The lack of roads west to east getting from the far side of the fire point of origin to where the fire was going, was challenging.”
Chief Rohrbach added that Tuesday’s Winds of 30 to 40 mph didn’t make their job any easier. ” Yesterday, blowing embers hundreds of feet over the established control lines contributed to the challenge.”
Jessa Lewis from the Department of Natural Resources said even though the risk of a fire is low it’s always a possibility, “when you have a drying event where you had several days of hot sun and winds, you just need to be a little extra careful.”
Lewis said that on June 14th, you will need a permit to burn.
Graves said everything is surreal, but he wants everyone to be diligent because he knows firsthand that this could happen to anyone.
“Be as fire ready as you can,get fire-wise done,fuel reduction, and just have a strong evacuation plan.”
