SULTAN — The midday sun was glaring down when firefighters responded to a reported brush fire in a field behind the parking lot where the Sultan School District parks its yellow buses.
The fire was threatening three houses, as well as the buses, said Merlin Halverson, chief of Snohomish County Fire District 5, which covers the rural city in the Cascade foothills.
He split the five units he had, having some attack the flames from the west, while others came from the parking lot to the east.
Embers jumped the parking lot, starting a spot fire on the other side. A school district employee smothered the flames before they could spread, he said.
“Eventually, we were able to put the main fire out before it reached any buildings,” the chief said.
With temperatures in the 90s, “it was very hot and very hard on the crews,” Halverson said.
The firefighters, most of who are volunteers, had on their heavy bunker gear. It is designed to keep them safe while fighting a building fire and weighs more than 40 pounds.
One firefighter appeared to be suffering from heat exhaustion, and was taken to the station to rest, cool off and drink lots of liquid, he said.
The fire might have been started by someone setting off fireworks, he said.
The area is in drought conditions, and a small spark can quickly turn into a big blaze.
Halverson said he has not seen a summer this dry in his 43-year career. “The situation is dire out hear. It is unbelievably dry.”
As the Sultan firefighters were wrapping up the field fire, they received a report of a structure fire about two miles to the east in a housing development off Mann Road.
A motorhome had “exploded,” Halverson said.
By the time he arrived, the fire had spread to a car shelter, two cars and two motorcycles, and had brought down a power line, which was cracking and popping, he said. It also had spread to nearby trees and brush.
The downed line blocked the way for firefighters, who had to work their way in around the adjacent house.
“We were able to work our way into a small space between the fire and the house,” he said.
They kept the flames away from the house and its garage, but the fire’s heat was enough to melt items in the garage, he said.
A second firefighter went down to heat exhaustion and steam burns. “He was wet from the first fire,” so when he got close to the blaze, the water in his gear turned to steam, the chief said.
He was taken to EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Monroe and was expected to be discharged Sunday evening, he said.
Firefighters from fire districts 26 and 3 supported the effort.
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