Fire Claims Barn and Livestock in Whitcomb
A blaze of unknown origin at the Washington Farm Lands company barn resulted in the loss of a horse, farm equipment, and a significant amount of alfalfa.
Last Thursday the barn owned by the Washington Farm Lands company at Whitcomb was totally destroyed by fire. The fire started in the barn and with the brisk wind from the west soon spread to a large stack of alfalfa hay which was near. Effort to check the flames proved useless and it was allowed to burn itself out. There were four horses in the barn at the time and all but one which was tied, were rescued. Two saddles, bridles, and harness were also destroyed. The origin of the fire is unknown.
“Effort to check the flames proved useless and it was allowed to burn itself out.”
Fires were a constant, devastating threat to rural agriculture in early 20th-century Washington, where wooden structures and dry hay made for combustible tinderboxes. Today, the site of this lost barn near Whitcomb is part of the Columbia River landscape, reshaped by damming and changes in land ownership that long ago erased the original farm infrastructure.
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