Stevens County, WA Fire Chief Called For Emergency Help - None Available; Everyone Was Committed [View all]

[hatrack]

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.

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On Friday, Anderson, 60, was about to learn how bad things were. First, he called surrounding fire agencies for help. They were already overwhelmed by other wildfires. “Nobody came,” he said. Next, he called the county. “Nobody came,” said Anderson, who also works as a communications specialist for the sheriff's office. Then he called the Washington Department of Natural Resources. “They had nobody to come help us,” he said. Finally, Anderson called state emergency management, asking that Washington state declare a mobilization to provide support for the fire.

The good news: “That was immediately granted.” The bad news: “There was nobody to send me.”

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http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-washington-fire-chief-20150819-story.html