Wildfire burns 2 homes in Pullman on Sunday, displacing students and injuring a firefighter

A wind-driven fire burned two homes on Pullman’s College Hill on Sunday afternoon, injuring one firefighter and displacing a dozen students.

The fire was first reported around 1 p.m. at 825 NE Maple St. behind the Cougar Country restaurant, according to a news release from the Pullman Fire Department. A tree was reported on fire at the location.

Wind gusts of 30 mph pushed the fire to a deck and then engulfed the home, which was destroyed. Embers were blown a block away to a house in the 400 block of NE Howard Street, according to the news release. The blaze also burned a half acre of dry grass on the hillside.

A student helped fight the fire and rescued a cat inside the Howard Street home, which was full of students on campus for pledge week with the Kappa Delta sorority. Students in both houses were displaced by the fire, and the American Red Cross and Washington State University housing services are helping provide shelter, according to the news release.

The cause of the initial fire on Maple Street is under investigation. One firefighter was injured while battling the grass fire, according to the news release.