Benton City marvels at random ruin

Drew Church was raising five breeds of chickens and three breeds of exotic ducks. There were 40 fowl in all, living in cages and pens, or roaming freely on the Church family's 13 acres.

By Thursday, only three hens remained of the 12-year-old's flock. The others were charred wads, prickly with bones.

"That's my little brother's duck right there," said Church, nudging some remains with his toe. "It wasn't even full-grown."

In a day full of larger tragedies, the dead birds were a mere distraction to Drew, the oldest of five children in a family that lost its home to a wildfire that roared through Benton City on Wednesday.

The fire began with a car wreck Tuesday and consumed more than 190,000 acres on and around the Hanford Nuclear Reservation by Thursday. It destroyed 20 homes in Benton County and 53 other buildings.

The fire was about 40 percent contained by late Thursday, Department of Energy spokeswoman Julie Erickson said.

About 7,000 people had been evacuated Wednesday, but they were allowed to return Thursday.

The scene in Benton City on Thursday was reminiscent of Oct. 17, 1991, the day after wind-driven wildfires ripped through Spokane County, destroying more than 100 homes.

Residents told stories of a family that lost everything - home, barn and horses. They talked reverently of a woman who became a widow a few weeks back, then lost her home Wednesday.

"Compared to her, I'm having a picnic," said Calvin Church, Drew's father, as he picked blackened gun parts and warped golf clubs from the scrap heap that had been the family's mobile home.

Residents wondered at the logic of a fire that would reduce a vacant trailer to a pool of molten aluminum, yet not touch a wooden barrel next to the trailer.

Kim Mears lost a Gremlin, a Datsun and one of two tires on a 10- speed bike. Her lawn was scorched. But Zaba, her Rottweiler, survived in a chain-link kennel attached to her house.

"Even the cats made it," Mears said. "They stayed in the house. They must have knew it wouldn't burn."

Town residents said they had little warning the fire was coming. It was sparked by a fatal car crash Tuesday and until Wednesday afternoon was confined mostly to the newly created Hanford Reach National Monument north of town. There appeared to be no threat to homes or other buildings.

"(Range) fires are no big thing here. They happen every day," said a Tri-Cities journalist.

But then the wind shifted. Authorities told Benton County residents at about 9 p.m. that they should evacuate. Some residents had already realized something was amiss.

Some noted flames cresting a sage-covered ridge a couple of miles away. They were stunned at the speed at which the fire swept down the hill.

"The wind was blowing. You could feel the heat," said Marla Schaffer, a Benton City resident.

"The sun turned bright red," longtime resident Kim Excell said. "I've never seen anything like it."

With one of two routes from town closed, escape was a slow process, Excell said.

"You couldn't even get through town, there were so many cars, so many people trying to get out," she said. "It was scary. I mean real scary."

Being away was scary, too. Bruce and Connie Isley were vacationing at Chapman Lake near Spokane when they got the call that their house was threatened. They got updates by cellular phone as they frantically drove toward home.

"Some of the messages said, `Your house has burned,'" Connie Isley said. "I thought, `Oh my gosh! Did I pay the insurance?'"

She had. More importantly, the couple have friends who converged on the Isley place, manning hoses. Bruce Isley believes that's the only reason his house was still standing Thursday, beside the rubble of his melted shop, a trailer and a mobile home.

This sidebar appeared with the story:

HOW TO HELP

Fire relief fund

People who want to help victims of the Hanford fire can make donations to the Hanford Fire Relief Fund at any US Bank branch.

The Tri-City Herald established the account Thursday with US Bank to aid families whose homes have been destroyed or damaged by the fire. It has burned nearly 200,000 acres around the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and destroyed 20 homes. The American Red Cross of Benton- Franklin County will distribute the money.

US Bank announced its own donation of $10,000 to the fund.

People wishing to help can make donations at any one of approximately 1,000 US Bank branches in the West and Midwest.

Associated Press

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