It was a hot, dry summer afternoon when Molly Linville glanced out her front windows and noticed a rare storm pushing down the narrow valley where she raises cattle.Then came five lightning strikes in quick succession. And five plumes of smoke.
She thought things would be OK. She was wrong.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 as concerned as I should have been from the get-go,鈥� Linville said.
At that moment, her 125 cattle were all in the southern end of the ranch, where the flames were closing in.
鈥淭he fire hit that heavy fuel, and the wind started. It just blew up,鈥� she said.
With her border collie, Stinker, she jogged the cows two miles back to her house. The cattle were tired but safe. It was a different story for the surrounding ranch land and fences.
What became known as the eventually burned more than 47,000 acres in central Washington in June 2017. It jumped the steep cliffs behind Linville鈥檚 ranch 鈥� something no one thought it would do.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to overblow it, but it was (like) Dante鈥檚 Inferno. Fifty-foot flame lengths. It was going so fast, it was shocking,鈥� Linville said.
From the beginning, this fire was harder to fight because Linville鈥檚 valley, called Moses Coulee, is what鈥檚 known as an unprotected area. There are no specific firefighting agencies assigned to respond to big fires there. In the firefighting world, it鈥檚 critical to attack rangeland fires quickly to keep them contained. Especially in this rural and remote rangeland, where dry brush burns much faster than forest fires.Fires that start in unprotected areas 鈥� no man鈥檚 lands 鈥� can grow quickly and jump jurisdictional boundaries. They could end up costing states millions of dollars if they grow to become mega-fires.
鈥淲e started peeling back the layers, and we found these unprotected lands are a problem for everybody, for fire resources, for the adjacent local fire districts, everybody,鈥� Linville said.
That鈥檚 why she鈥檚 fighting for what she sees as an easy, practical solution: train ranchers and farmers who live in the roughly 365,000 acres of no man鈥檚 lands in Washington to fight their own fires.
There are some benefits to living in unprotected areas. For one, some ranchers like the fact that you don鈥檛 have to pay taxes to a fire district or timber taxes to the state. They also like the independence.
Protecting Rangeland In Oregon, Idaho
That鈥檚 a big reason rangeland fire protection associations have been successful in rural Oregon and Idaho. The associations are credited with keeping hundreds of fires small enough so that they don鈥檛 threaten people, property and imperiled species, like sage grouse, said Steve Acarregui, with the Bureau of Land Management.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 have any agency responding to a fire when it鈥檚 small, it鈥檚 inevitable that it鈥檚 going to get large 鈥� and then it becomes very difficult to suppress. When you鈥檝e got everyone saying, 鈥楬ey, that鈥檚 not my fire,鈥� it just continues to burn. That鈥檚 not a good system we have set up,鈥� Acarregui said.
Acarregui helped get off the ground. He says, these protection associations have 鈥渄rastically reduced the amount of unprotected land鈥� in Washington鈥檚 neighboring states.
鈥淎ll the pieces of the puzzle are being connected now in those no man's lands and those areas of major concern,鈥� Acarregui said. 鈥淥utside of these areas we do have a pretty good system of wildfire response.鈥�
There are now 24 rangeland fire protection agencies in Oregon. The first was established in 1964, although more have popped up in recent years, as larger fires began to sweep through rangeland.
John Williams has worked with the in southeastern Oregon since 1999, one year after it was formed.
Since then, Williams said he鈥檚 responded to nearly every fire in the district.
鈥淢ost of the ranchers and farmers in wheatland and rangeland, they know how to fight fire. They're just not organized and they're probably going to fight a fire on their property with their equipment,鈥� Williams said. Rangeland fire protection associations help with coordination and equipment.
One particularly memorable June, he said his group put out 20 fires. There was also the night the volunteer group helped save five buildings as flames raced down a hillside when the wind direction changed.
鈥淵ou know, those people are very happy about our quick response,鈥� he said.
Williams has had some close calls, like the time a pile of trash got stuck under his rig, but he said that no volunteers in his group have been hurt.
To that end, volunteers for the protection associations are trained in wildland firefighting. In Idaho, they鈥檙e required to wear protective gear. That鈥檚 not always the case in Oregon.
For a Emily Jane Davis with Oregon State University interviewed ranchers and government employees about how rangeland fire protection associations work in Oregon and Idaho.
She said the way each state sets up rangeland fire protection associations can make a difference in how smoothly they work with the current firefighting system.
鈥淚 think the way you set up a program matters so much for its outcomes,鈥� Davis said.
At times, there have been tensions between government employees and ranchers, who want to hold on to their independence.
'A Combination Of Options' In Washington
There are several options on the table for Washington officials to protect these no man鈥檚 lands, including forming rangeland fire protection associations.
A is weighing the possibilities. The committee is expected to make recommendations in November, said state forester George Geissler.
鈥淲e don't know if there is one big solution or if it is a combination of options depending upon what would be most effective acre-by-acre,鈥� Geissler said.
The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters opposed to create rangeland fire protection associations. It cited costs and their potential to put a drain on existing resources.
'Never Again'
In Moses Coulee, Molly Linville said her 20 or so neighbors will continue to take care of each other during fire seasons 鈥� whether they remain in a firefighting 鈥榥o man鈥檚 land鈥� or get to form a fire protection association. They鈥檝e recently purchased a brush fire truck to fight local fires, no matter what. Linville is also looking into buying radios to help with communication in areas that don鈥檛 have cell service.
She said all the agencies know that鈥檚 the plan. The neighbors have even received some informal offers from individual firefighting experts for safety lessons.
鈥淚 describe us as a bunch of anarchists up here 鈥� we鈥檙e pretty remote. It seems to be one of the few things we all agree on,鈥� Linville said. 鈥淲e all, as neighbors, said, 鈥楴ever again. No, we're not doing this again.鈥欌��
Courtney Flatt, based in the Tri-Cities, covers the environment and natural resource issues for Northwest Public Broadcasting. On Twitter:
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