Two fire departments battle odds at Baird Berry Farm

Published 3:18 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Fall City Firemen began March with tired

and battered bodies from hours of firefighting. The

Baird Berry Farm had a real conflagration the night of

February 29th.

Near 11 p.m. Mrs. Knudtsen, wife of the farm

worker living in the homestead house, was the first to see

the big barn on fire. At that time, flames were shooting

out of the building.

She immediately called Fall City’s firemen. With

fire engine truck and water tank truck they responded.

But with such a head start, there was no chance to save

the building.

Carnation’s firemen responded to a call for

help, bringing their fire truck, water tank truck and just in

case, the ambulance. They worked until 3 o’clock the

morning of March 1st.

Cause of the blaze is not yet known. Mr. Baird

recalled that he and Mr. Knudtsen left the barn at 5:30

and pulled the switch on the switch box before leaving.

At 11 p.m. the fire was discovered.

The owners suffered a severe loss. Besides the

building, which cannot be replaced with the grade of

timber with which it was built, there was the milk house

filled with tools and batteries. Equipment for irrigation,

over $6,000 worth, tractors and other berry farming

equipment was lost.

The fire severed the electric lines, plunging the

house into darkness and putting the phones out of

commission until in the early morning hours the light

company was notified and rushed a crew down to repair the breaks.

Mr. Baird had suffered a severe heart attack

the spring of ’59 and is still fighting the ailment. He

stood through the long hours watching the barn and milk

house consumed and the equipment burned while the fire

companies fought gallantly to keep the fire from spreading.

Jack Bush built the barn fifty years ago with the

help of his son Lee and a nephew, Clyde Darst of

Issaquah, and a helping hand from some of the neighbors.

The main timbers were 12 by 12 inches and some were sixty feet long. The wood was clear and the

building was 40 by 60 feet and had a high, pitched roof.

The walls were of hemlock. The hemlock was

delivered green and it took three men to unload each piece

and stack it with an air space between.

Jack planned to work for the sunnier months so

the hemlock would be sun and air dried. Much of the

building was done during cherry ripening time.

The milk house was built by Lee Bush in later

years while he was in the dairy business.

The building now housing equipment and supplies was the old night shed. It was built while Alec

Chisholm was on the farm. He was the father of Bruce

Chisholm. It was badly damaged on the west side adjoining

the barn.

It was a spectacular fire for this small

community. To the eye the flaming timbers were an awesome

sight. To the hearts of some it was a grievous thing. To

those accustomed to seeing it for a half century, it is an

irreplaceable loss of something familiar from out of

the past.