A firefighter is recovering at Harborview Medical Center after getting severe burns on his body while fighting wildfires in the state.
Brett Read is many things. He is a husband. He is a father. He’s also a firefighter. He had risked his life to protect others for seven years. Recently, that risk of losing his life was closer than he’s ever experienced.
“It’s a chance that everyone takes when we lace our boots up every day. But if we don’t lace our boots up, who’s fighting them?" Read said.
Read works with Okanogan County Fire District Number 8. On Saturday, he and his team were battling the Grass Valley Fire. Read said that in the blink of an eye, the situation got out of hand.
“Fire's unpredictable. We engaged the fire; everything was going. We decided to disengage the fire because it was intensifying, wind shifts. We were backing out of the fire, disengaging, and that’s when the fire stood up and made a huge run,” he said.