Cougar Bay grass fire extinguished
<p>KCFR Firefighter/paramedic Mitchell Copstead works on a keeping a grass fire from spreading Friday along U.S. 95 near Cougar Bay.</p>
<p>Lt. Bryon Johnson, with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, assess the situation of a grass fire between Lake Coeur d’Alene and U.S. 95 near Cougar Bay Friday in Coeur d’Alene.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Firefighters spent Friday morning fighting a grass fire on the banks of Coeur d'Alene's Cougar Bay.
Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Ryan, whose department was paged to the fire at 10 a.m., told The Press Friday afternoon that the grass fire burned "spotty" due to the type of material on the bank. Ryan said he spoke to owners of a nearby home, who told him that no one at the property was burning anything in the area.
"My guess is that somebody passing through the area dropped something that caused the problem," Ryan said of the blaze's probable cause.
Firefighters worked on getting the grass fire contained for approximately two hours.
Ryan said the location of the blaze and the lack of access to it caused the biggest challenges for the crew.
"Being right along 95 (U.S. Highway 95), we didn't want to park our trucks on the side of the road because of the problems that would create," Ryan said.
A Kootenai County Search and Rescue boat, which Ryan said is stored close to where the blaze occurred, was called in to fight the flames from the bay.
"It was an easy resource to call out," Ryan said.
The only thing of value damaged in the fire, according to Ryan, was a wooden staircase that goes down to the lake.
Resources and firefighters from the Idaho Department of Lands and the Mica Kidd Island Fire District also responded to the fire.