Home Burns Wind Sends Sparks Toward Mobile Home

A man’s mobile home burned to the ground Tuesday morning after wind whipped sparks from a nearby slash burn into his trailer.

No one was injured in the blaze, but Woody Hansen lost most of his belongings.

Hansen, a self-employed repair man, had intended to burn a pile of scrap wood Tuesday morning on his property at 1800 North Beck Road.

He got a burn permit and even dug a fire barrier around the scrap wood, said Dan Ryan, Post Falls deputy fire chief. Hansen said the wind was calm at 9:10 a.m. when he set the fire.

“But the wind here just picked up,” he said, as smoke from his still-burning home enveloped him.

Sparks landed in bales of hay that Hansen had piled around his travel trailer for insulation. “I turned and looked at my trailer house and the flames were rolling,” Hansen said.

He tried to douse the fire with a garden hose but, “It was way too late. A third of the trailer was already a roaring rush of flames.”

Hansen had to drive several miles to the Hauser Smoke Shop to call for firefighters, Ryan said.

“It was gone when we got there,” the deputy chief said.

Hansen lost most of his possessions, including several firearms, a sleeping bag and repair manuals he used for his job.

Wind on the Rathdrum Prairie is unpredictable, Ryan said. Those intending to burn should keep their fires small and have water on hand. If the wind comes up or the weather changes, put the fire out immediately, he said.

Ryan estimated damage to Hansen’s property at about $5,000. Hansen said he has no insurance.

“It isn’t winter time. I can sleep in my truck,” he said.