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Show Fire Fighters Join To Battle Blaze BRYCE - Bryce Canyon National Park fire chief George Buckingham who directed the firefighting at Rubys Inn early Friday morning said the park received the emergency call close to midnight Thursday night and his firefighting crew and equipment were on the scene in just over 10 minutes. The park is located about a mile from the historic inn. BCNP patrolman Boyd Mc-Farland was still on duty when the emergency call came in and proceeded to the scene in his patrol car where he Joined Rubys Inn co-owner Rod Syrett. McFarland said the fire was ; already well underway and he ; and Syrett could do nothing i except to work to get people i , safely from the upstairs rooms. i He said one woman, apparently panic stricken, refused to open ! her door or to move aside so that It could be kicked in. With the help of a friend she was calmed and persuaded to leave the burning building. Both McFarland and Syrett continued to evacaute the motel units north and south of the central building in the event the blaze could not be contained. Buckingham arrived on the scene in the park's pumper which carries 500 gallons and pumps 1,000 gallons a minute. He parked the unit near the pool to utilize the additional water available there. He could see that the fire had developed rapidly and that chances of saving the building were slim. Although the rain provided additional moisture, the winds of 40 to 50 miles an hour that accompanied the storm aggravated the situation, Buckingham said. Buckingham's crew consists of nine men, all with turnout gear, utilizing two and one-half inch hoses in a frontal assault on the blaze. The heat from the fire was extremely intense, he said, and the wind was dispersing the streams of water as they sprayed on the fire, reducing their effectiveness. Because of the intensity of the blaze, efforts of the crew were directed at containing the fire, slowing it and trying to prevent its spread to adjacent buildings. Fire units from Panguitch, Hatch, Tropic, Henrievile and Escalante checked in at Buckingham's command post and were deployed to various points on the perimeter of the fire. Firefighters focused on the south wall of the structure to avoid the spread to motel units nearby. All the units were kept sprayed down to prevent spreading and enough water retained in the swimming pool at all times in case the fire managed to engulf other units. Buckingham said he was grateful there were no lives lost and no injuries with the size and intensity of the blaze. He said crews worked well together and volunteers accepted instruction admirably. The NPS fire team stayed on the scene the remainder of the night and remained to mop up until 11 a.m. when they returned to the national park. |