Firefighters extinguish another wildfire at WSU research farm

Firefighters quickly extinguished a wildfire at the WSU Cook Agronomy Farm near Pullman on Tuesday, sparked by a burning wheat truck. Whitman County Fire District 12 Chief Lester Erwin reported that the fire consumed nearly 200 acres of standing grain and canola. Emergency responders arrived at the scene around 1:30 p. m. and worked collaboratively, including the Moscow Rural Fire Department and the Pullman Fire Department, to control the blaze in about one hour.

A helicopter from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources aided efforts by dropping water on the fire. This incident follows a previous wildfire at the WSU Spillman Farm that burned around 4 acres on July 29, indicating a troubling trend of fire incidents at the university's agricultural research sites. The local community remains on alert as the summer heat continues to pose fire risks. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries from either fire incident.