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KREM BLOGGER |
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March 2008
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Whenever we get called into the newsroom a couple hours early for breaking news, we're never sure how long it'll be until we get home again. A few days ago two photographers and I went to Dayton, WA, to cover the Columbia Complex Fire. We drove through Lewiston and Clarkston, which were already covered in a thick layer of smoke. By the time we reached Dayton, the streets were lined with people, staring up into the mountains at huge plumes of smoke. Many of them had been up all night, watching the 'big orange glow' move toward town. Little information was coming out of the Command Center. A briefing that was supposed to start at noon didn't begin until after 7pm. One Information Officer told me the fire was 3,000 acres. Another said it was closer to 15,000 acres. They couldn't tell for sure until sunrise the next morning. Our cell phones died, so we were cutoff from the newsroom for most of the day. I found out we were staying overnight when I heard one of our anchors in my earpiece tell the audience to watch my live reports the next morning starting at 5am. After the 11pm newscast, we checked the Red Cross shelter and the roadblock to see if anything new had happened while we were on air. We got to our hotel at midnight, and after three hours of sleep, got up for our morning duties. A lot can change in a few hours at a wildfire. When we arrived at the Command Center the second morning, it was deserted. In the few hours since we'd been there, everyone had moved 10 miles down the road to Waitsburg. We pulled into the fairgrounds there, followed by fire crews from across the state. As difficult as it was to get solid information from fire officials, my level of frustration was nothing compared to the people of Dayton. I watched with homeowners as a fire burned down a hillside toward their homes, with no firefighters in site. Luckily the wind died down, and a small creek stopped the flames. Other people who'd been at work all day hit roadblocks while trying to get home at night. Several roads were closed off, and deputies manning the roadblocks couldn't let them through to feed animals or start the sprinklers. One man actually landed in jail after going through the roadblocks. He and several others have complained about how the state is handling the fire. Homes have been saved, but many of their crops have been left to burn. We're headed back down to Dayton on Tuesday to talk to the people, and get a better sense of how they're fighting the fire and when they think it might be contained. Jared Dillingham KREM2 Reporter |
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