From left to right, Kate Deach, Lyle Grange President Charlie Deach,and National Grange President Christine Hamp. Charlie Deach was honored for saving the 136-year-old building from the Burdoin Fire by clearing brush to create a barrier before being able to evacuate.Kat Tabor photos
LYLE — The National Grange honored Lyle Grange President Charlie Deach on Wednesday for his quick action during the Burdoin Fire, which helped save the historic Columbia Grange Hall from destruction in July.
Christine Hamp, the National Grange president, presented Deach with a proclamation, service coin, Grange vest, and veterans honor valor quilt during a ceremony at the 136-year-old red-and-white hall on Aug. 13.
On July 19, Deach had just finished creating a firebreak around his home when the flames approached the Grange. He climbed onto his backhoe and began clearing brush to carve a barrier between the fire and the building before being ordered to evacuate by fire officials.
“When that fire started and I went out my back door, I could see yellow smoke a thousand feet in the air,” Deach recalled. “We knew we were in big trouble. At that point, I knew there wasn’t much I could do sitting in the back of my house. I knew I could do something — I knew what we had to do.”
He and his wife, Kate, later watched from town as the blaze created fire tornadoes and sent pine trees exploding into flames. “At that point I went, ‘oh, the Grange is toast,’ because it was headed right in its direction,” he said.
The next morning, a friend called at 5:30 a.m. with good news: the Grange was still standing. “Kate, my beautiful wife, and I both burst into tears,” Deach said. “It was the most unreal and surreal feeling knowing that this Grange survived.”
From left to right, Kate Deach, Lyle Grange President Charlie Deach,and National Grange President Christine Hamp. Charlie Deach was honored for saving the 136-year-old building from the Burdoin Fire by clearing brush to create a barrier before being able to evacuate.Kat Tabor photos
Columbia Grange No. 87, the oldest in Washington, is still operating in its original building and will celebrate its 136th anniversary later this year. “This building is a part of a lot of people’s history,” Deach said.
A U.S. Army veteran, Deach served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971 with the 192nd Assault Helicopter Company. He earned several medals, including the Bronze Star, and was honorably discharged as a chief warrant officer.
Hamp, who traveled from Spokane, praised Deach during the ceremony. “To have the opportunity to recognize somebody that goes above and beyond is a tremendous, tremendous thing,” she said. Grange leaders from across the state attended the event, which was followed by lunch.
“Charlie’s dauntless preemptive efforts conceivably helped save the 136-year-old historic Grange hall when a quick-moving, uncontrollable wildfire swept through the Lyle,” said Claudine Mincks, Klickitat Pomona Grange president and State Grange lecturer.
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