The combined resources of Spokane County Fire District No. 3, the Cheney Fire Department and the Department of Natural Resources made short work of what has been called the Cameron Road Fire on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
“Fortunately we had a lot of resources available,” including several aircraft, District 3 Division Chief Debby Dodson said in dousing the eight-acre blaze. “We had a really quick response which was just very, very helpful. That really put a quick handle on it.”
While Wednesday was a relative breeze for District 3, their personnel have been busy elsewhere in this active fire season.
“We put a list together and we’ve been at 15 different mobilization fires,” Dodson said. “We have a lot of trucks in different places.”
This year is “significantly different than any other year,” Dodson said. To put that in perspective, last year there was one truck that traveled while in 2015 there are multiple vehicles out with a number of crews.
“I would say it’s a significant change over last year,” Dodson said.
Last Friday’s blustery wind conditions were the recipe for disaster, Dodson said. “The potential on Friday was astronomical between the dry conditions, the wind and the humidity.”
A big help came from the preparation that area utility companies do in terms of making sure trees remain clear of power lines. “They have a really aggressive program to keep the trees away, where as years ago that wasn’t the case,” Dodson said.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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