Cle Elum ranchers dodge destructive blaze twice in four days
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CLE ELUM, Wash. -- The Taylor Bridge Fire has shown its savage strength times over, destroying more than 70 homes and spreading to more than 22,700 acres.
But one ranch managed to dodge the fire's destructive path twice, thanks to the help of neighbors.
Tricia Roghair was working on her beef cattle ranch on Monday when she smelled something in the air.
"We smelled smoke. And within 15 minutes, it was burning under the power lines and it had consumed the houses to the west of us," she said.
Roghair rounded up her five children and sent them to a nearby evacuation center with their grandmother.
And just as she and her husband thought they'd have to fight the flames on their own, a dozen friends and neighbors rushed to their aid. With the help of the community, they managed to keep the flames away from the ranch.
Amazingly, this scenario played out not once, but twice in four days.
"The amount of outpouring of love has been huge to us," she said.
The blaze did destroy approximately $100,000 worth of hay at the ranch, but the Roghairs are grateful things didn't take a turn for the worse. Just a few yards away, their neighbor's home was gutted by the fast-moving flames.
Still, the Roghairs are anxious for life to return to normal, for themselves and their neighbors.
"I'm tired of fighting fire, and there ain't nothing left to burn," said Shane Roghair.
The blaze has burned across an estimated 22,787 acres, roughly 35 square miles, of diverse terrain, ranging from dry grasses to sagebrush and thick timber. The fire started Monday at a bridge construction site. Officials have said at least 70 homes have burned.
But one ranch managed to dodge the fire's destructive path twice, thanks to the help of neighbors.
Tricia Roghair was working on her beef cattle ranch on Monday when she smelled something in the air.
"We smelled smoke. And within 15 minutes, it was burning under the power lines and it had consumed the houses to the west of us," she said.
Roghair rounded up her five children and sent them to a nearby evacuation center with their grandmother.
And just as she and her husband thought they'd have to fight the flames on their own, a dozen friends and neighbors rushed to their aid. With the help of the community, they managed to keep the flames away from the ranch.
Amazingly, this scenario played out not once, but twice in four days.
"The amount of outpouring of love has been huge to us," she said.
The blaze did destroy approximately $100,000 worth of hay at the ranch, but the Roghairs are grateful things didn't take a turn for the worse. Just a few yards away, their neighbor's home was gutted by the fast-moving flames.
Still, the Roghairs are anxious for life to return to normal, for themselves and their neighbors.
"I'm tired of fighting fire, and there ain't nothing left to burn," said Shane Roghair.
The blaze has burned across an estimated 22,787 acres, roughly 35 square miles, of diverse terrain, ranging from dry grasses to sagebrush and thick timber. The fire started Monday at a bridge construction site. Officials have said at least 70 homes have burned.
