Gonzaga’s Chandler Smith and family fight to save ranch from Omak inferno
From Thursday's Spokesman-Review:
Quote:
‘A once-in-a-lifetime fire’: Gonzaga’s Chandler Smith and family fight to save ranch from Omak inferno
By Emma Epperly
emmae@spokesman.com
(509) 459-5122
When former Gonzaga basketball star Chandler Smith decided to head home to her family’s cattle ranch outside of Brewster to help out her older brother over Labor Day weekend, she had no idea she would be fighting to save the family home from the Cold Springs and Pearl Hill Fires.
The ranch has been in the family for over 110 years. But Chandler’s parents, Dale and Renee Smith, do more than just raise cattle. They have irrigated crops as well, like corn and wheat .
“We’re busy year-round,” Dale said. “We hay a lot, we move cows around a lot. Just everything involved in a ranch. No off-time for us.”
Still, Chandler’s parents decided to spend the weekend 11 hours away in Montana visiting their youngest son, Cade.
It was perfect timing for a weekend away, with the third cutting of wheat almost over.
Then about 10:30 p.m. Sunday night, Chandler got a call from Cody Mestdagh, who lives on the ranch and works for her father. Mestdagh said to get ready in case they needed to fight a fire nearby.
Chandler and her older brother Davey got a few things set up before catching some sleep, in case they didn’t have the chance to rest over the next few days. Early that morning, they went to the top of a nearby ridge to get the full picture.
Read the entire article here along with a photo gallery: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...andler-smith-/
We will keep Chander, her entire family as well as those in the Brewster, Pateros and Omak communities as well as all the communities affected by the wildfires in our prayers.
ZagDad