Fire Claims Harvest in Soldier Settlement
Seventy tons of hay and a barn destroyed as fire sweeps through a settler's property.
Fire on Tuesday afternoon destroyed the entire hay crop and barn of Edward Ponsat on his soldier settlement tract north of town. It is estimated that there were about 70 tons of hay in the stack that was burned, including all four cuttings. The barn was insured but the hay was a total loss. It is thought that the fire was started by one of the little Ponsat boys playing with matches in the barn.
“It is estimated that there were about 70 tons of hay in the stack that was burned, including all four cuttings.”
The 'Soldier Settlement' tracts were a post-WWI effort to integrate veterans into the agricultural landscape of Eastern Washington. Such catastrophic losses of winter feed could mean the difference between economic survival and bankruptcy for these new settlers, a reminder of the volatility of early 20th-century agrarian life.
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