The Brief
- Ongoing wildfires including the Three Queens, King, and Goat fires have placed many Kittitas County homes and businesses under evacuation notices while fire crews work around the clock to contain them ahead of extreme, hot, and dry weather.
- The owner of Cascade Playtime in Ronald bought a 1980s fire truck off Facebook Marketplace to protect their property from the nearby Three Queens Fire after local area closures halted their summer recreation business.
- Despite suffering economic losses from tourism shutdowns, the family is using their downtime to learn how to operate the fire engine and is providing free evening meals to passing firefighters.
RONALD, Wash. – Many homes and businesses in Kittitas County are under evacuation notices as firefighters continue to battle the Three Queens Fire, the King Fire and the Goat Fire.
Near the Three Queens Fire in Ronald, a family that owns a small business there is preparing to take matters into their own hands if wildfire moves closer to their property.
Local business owners prep used fire engine
Shawn Parker and his family operate Cascade Playtime, an outdoor recreation rental business in Ronald that provides motorized vehicles, boats, and paddle boards to visitors. Located roughly 10 miles from the active Three Queens Fire, the business sits within a Level 1 evacuation zone.
Around this time of year, Shawn’s son Bo is usually renting out recreational equipment, like boats, paddle boards and ATV’s to customers at the family business. But these days, he’s taken on a new role, that of a self-taught firefighter.
“Pretty fun, and this is all stuff I learned in the past four days,” said Bo. …