A city of Yakima worker was under observation at a local hospital Wednesday after suffering from smoke inhalation when he tried to put out a grass fire.
The worker, an employee at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, was mowing weeds near the facility when he saw the fire and attempted to put it out, said Tom Schneider, shift commander with the Yakima Fire Department.
Unable to extinguish the fire, he then called authorities, Schneider said.
A total of 17 firefighters from Yakima and the East Valley Fire Department responded to the fire at about 11:30 a.m. Flames blackened about three or four acres, Schneider said.
The fire approached cottonwood trees along the Yakima Greenway pathway, but firefighters were able to stop it before any trees were burned, he said.
The man is doing fine, and currently under observation at a local hospital, Randy Beehler, communications and public affairs director for the city, said Wednesday afternoon.