Fire blackens wheat field

The flames had passed by in minutes, and the two women seated on a porch swing in the shade of giant pine trees and willows could only stare at the pitch-black field where 120 acres of wheat burned Friday.

“I just can’t believe it,” said Eileen Merritt, 86, clutching a handkerchief. “It’s funny how that can turn so fast.”

Nestled by a creek in the golden hills of the Palouse, the 1936 farmhouse near the Spokane County town of Waverly was spared by a protective oasis of green trees and gardens. The fire burned within about 150 feet of the house.

Marion Earrett, who lives in the house, said she walked outside and saw the entire hillside burning.

“It went so fast, it was black in a minute,” she said.

The fire, started by a combine harvesting wheat, engulfed 120 acres and destroyed the combine before it was contained, said Bill Tensfeld Jr., chief of Whitman County Fire District 7.

Neighboring farmers stopped their harvesting operations and moved quickly to help fight the blaze, Tensfeld said. Some brought water trucks while others used three tractors to disk a line of earth around the edges of the fire.

Friday’s fire wasn’t the first time the home was in danger. In March, a fire burned a garage and shed, Merritt said.

While getting started on a new field, Merritt’s son Dick Merritt noticed the combine he was driving was surrounded in flames. He radioed his son, Darrin, and bailed out of the machine, he said.

While Dick Merritt went to check on the house, Darrin Merritt showed up at the combine and burned his hand checking to see if his father had made it out safely. He was taken to a hospital, Tensfeld said.

The last fire Dick Merritt had on the land he farms was 37 years ago, on Aug. 4, 1968. Friday’s fire was caused by a combine bearing that went out and overheated, he said.

As fire trucks pulled out of the driveway, the women thanked the firefighters. They felt a breeze and both women looked back at the field.

“The wind is picking up again,” Eileen Merritt said.