Thanks to some natural barriers, firefighters were able to stop a field fire before it spread to a home and neighboring property Thursday near Ridgefield.
The fire was reported around 4:30 p.m., near the intersection of Northeast 10th Avenue and Northeast 279th Street.
“It ran right up to a house, but the blackberry bushes slowed the fire down enough that crews were able to put some water on it,” Clark County Fire & Rescue Chief John Nohr said.
The fire burned about 10 acres of a wheat field that had been partially harvested that day, he said. Some product was lost, with the rest of the fire burning in stubble.
The fire threatened a home and shop at 27318 N.E. 10th Ave., Nohr said. The homeowners weren’t there at the time.
Firefighters set up a pump at the home’s in-ground pool to help protect the house and fill fire engines’ water tanks.
That’s not a very common tactic. Maybe in places like Texas or California, he said.
The fire didn’t damage any structures, he said. There were also worries the fire might spread into an adjacent field, but the blackberries helped keep it in check at one end, with relatively green grass along a ditch containing it at another, helping firefighters get it contained, he said.
Firefighters from the Department of Natural Resources also responded.
The Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office was investigating.
