Brush fire in Buckley destroys barn, threatens multiple homes



BUCKLEY, Wash. -- A 12-acre brush fire in Buckley came dangerously close to taking out a few homes. At least seven different fire agencies responded to the large brush fire just before 2 p.m. on Sunday.

A helicopter flying overhead making water drops is not the typical Sunday afternoon in this Buckley neighborhood.

“Yeah, I know. Panic set in. What am I gonna do?” recalled Bob Carsey who was at work when he got a notification on his phone that the fire alarm had gone off at his home.

“I rushed home as fast as I could. The place was engulfed. The barn was engulfed, the little storage house was engulfed our chicken house was engulfed,” said Carsey and added there were no animals in the chicken house.

Firefighters were able to keep the fire from approaching Carsey’s house, his neighbors and from getting to the timber trees a few acres back.

“I feel dang lucky no one was home and it didn’t go inside the house,” said Carsey.



The state department of natural resources conducted a GPS walk around the fire and determined it to be 12 acres.

“It’s all pasture land, that’s why it went so fast,” said Carsey.

“Three outbuildings, a mobile home and a barn that was involved in the fire,” said Paul Strong with the Valley Regional Fire Department.

A dump truck was also destroyed and Carsey’s car was partially on fire and a second car he says he was working on.

“I had a 280Z that I was restoring,” said Carsey.

“I’m a retired policeman. I’ve seen lots of little things but never had this happen to me,” said Carsey.

Firefighters are still investigating the cause of the fire. No one was injured.

“We’ve been here for 30 years,” said Carsey.

Three decades here and he says his biggest problem is usually the wildlife.

“We’ve got the deer eating our fruit trees but it’s calm and relaxed,” said Carsey, but now he says he has much bigger concerns on his mind.  “Oh, just wondering what’s going to come next. Where do I go from here?” said Carsey.