Okanogan fire hits ranchers hard - Capital Press
— Numerous ranchers have lost their spring and fall pastures, state and federal grazing allotments, hay stacks, timber and cattle in the massive Okanogan Complex fire that continues to scorch more than a quarter of a million acres in north-central... With only a small area assessed, 25 residences, 15 mobile homes and 48 outbuildings are confirmed burned, said Jim DeTro, an Okanogan County commissioner and hobby rancher north of Riverside. It has surpassed last year’s Carlton Complex fire as the largest in state history. It is mostly northeast of where the Carlton fire burned last summer. I have no hay, no pasture, no timber and no place for my cows to go,” said Gerald Scholz, a rancher in Pine Creek west of Highway 97 between Riverside and Tonasket. The DNR lit it on fire,” Scholz said. He blamed back burning by a state Department of Natural Resources firefighter for much of his devastation, saying the firefighter lit the trees and then took off, leaving him to fight the fire. He said family, friends and neighbors saved every house in south Pine Creek but homes in north Pine Creek were destroyed. Scholz said he lost three hay stacks, his second cutting of hay and pastures. He was treating other cattle with burned feet and said he doesn’t know if any died in the fire. DeTro said the Haeberle Ranch on Johnson Creek was “hit pretty hard. Source: www.capitalpress.com
