“My Whole Life Was In There”

DAYTON - Longtime Touchet Valley resident Steven Long, 23, returned home after dark on Christmas Eve from a trip to visit family in Walla Walla.

As he rounded the corner and peered forward into the valley, his eyes locked on an orange glow in the distance. As he drew closer, he saw the farmhouse that's been in his family for more than 60 years fully engulfed in flames.

"I was speechless," Long said. "My whole life was in there."

He quickly dialed 911 and waited for aid to arrive.

Fire crews with Columbia County Fire District 3 and Walla Walla County Fire District 2 arrived at the two-story home on Hogeye Hollow Road at about 7:35 p.m.

Fire crews observed flames shooting out of second story windows. District 3 Chief Rick Turner said the flames were too hot and too aggressive to send firefighters inside the structure, so crews shot water from the outside.

Reports vary, but firefighters on the scene said it took several hours to douse the flames. The house was completely gutted.

"I lost all my pictures, titles to my cars, my toys, literally everything," Long said.

A local volunteer, Billy Tziouvaras, was injured in the shoulder while singlehandedly manning a hose. Tziouvaras said Friday's fire was challenging for a number of reasons.

"The fire was so far out, and there were no hydrants," he said. "We had to have trucks going in to get water and coming back. We had to call Waitsburg in to help because we were so low on water."

Another factor to taking so long to get the fire out was the size of the house.

"We couldn't get in to the house to get the middle where it was burning." Tziouvaras said. "It just kept coming."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Turner said Tuesday. But Long and firefighters on the scene said they believe it may have been outdated electrical wiring.

"With old wires and old insulation, it takes nothing for a hot wire to catch fire," Tziouvaras said.

In addition to at least half a dozen trucks on hand, an ambulance was also on standby, although no one was home at the time of the fire and there were no injuries, Turner reported in a Union Bulletin story Monday.

Long lived in the house, owned by his mother Judy Rose of Walla Walla and grandmother Jackie Lions, with his 3-year-old daughter Leah Ray Long. The house was insured.

But he had recently started to remodel the old house. "Six months of hard work into the house was just gone in a matter of hours," he said.

The Long home is situated on 2,000 acres of farm land. Long's grandfather moved to the Hogeye area in the 1930s or 40s. The family has farmed wheat, peas and barley ever since, Long said.

Long's father, Stan Long, farmed for many years but has since left the valley. Steve Shoun manages the JMS Farms now, but Long said he hopes to direct things one day. He's been supporting himself and his young daughter by working for the family farm for many years.

Or that was the plan before his Christmas dreams went up in flames.

For now he's staying with friends in Waitsburg, but his daughter has gone to live with her mother in Walla Walla.

"I guess that's how things will have to be for now," he said.