Two Washington State Department of Transportation crew members were doing routine survey work on state Route 507 in Yelm in October when they found themselves in the middle of a brush fire and sprung into action.
The WSDOT blog stated Jeff Karnes was operating the survey equipment, while Garth Gavette recorded the information from a few hundred feet away. After Karnes looked into his data collector machine, he looked up to see Gavette acting strangely.
“I saw Garth kind of stomping and looking like he was dancing around and then I saw the flames,” Karnes said.
Karnes grabbed a fire extinguisher and started spraying it, stated WSDOT. They then noticed three or four more fires break out around them and they called the fire department. The dry conditions on Oct. 12 made it easy for the fire to spread quickly toward neighboring property and cows. Karnes’ wanted to notify the property owner, but no one was home.
“They jumped into action again and herded the cows into an adjoining field away from the fire. At the same time, they noticed the fire was also moving toward a horse shed,” the WSDOT blog stated. “They found a garden hose and soaked the shed and surrounding grass to keep the fire away. Then firefighters arrived to take over for them.”
WSDOT applauded the efforts of Karnes and Gavette.
“This amazing story reminds us just how tied to the community our road workers are. Many of them live in the same communities they work and are deeply committed to helping keep those areas safe, as Jeff and Garth’s actions show,” stated WSDOT. “We are so grateful that they sprang into action to help a neighbor. They don’t do this kind of work for recognition, but the best way to say thanks to them or any of our road workers is by being alert, slowing down, being patient and giving them room to do their job. Help get them home safely.”
