NEWMAN LAKE, Wash. -- Two buildings went up in flames during a three-alarm brush fire in Newman Lake.
The Harvard 2 Fire started around noon Friday near Trent and Harvard, and it made its way up a nearby bluff.
One home was destroyed in the fire. The owners did not live there, but they took a big hit. Rick Binder watched as flames devoured his land. His wife and stepson walked through the rubble where their relatives once built a homestead.
“Our farmhouse is gone. All of our childhood memories are in there. A lot of our childhood photos burned up, and A lot of our grandparents’ antiques and kids’ stuff,” Binder said.
A windmill and outbuildings were destroyed, as well, but fire crews were able to save the home Binder lives in along with a handful of others close to the fire line.
The fire was contained about two hours after it ignited. Flames singed about 12 acres. The fire mostly affected wild grass and a pasture.
Firefighters from Newman Lake to Kootenai County assisted crews.
The cause remains under investigation.
