Wildfires broke out last weekend in south central Washington state and quickly devoured roughly 81 square miles of grass, brush and timber. As evacuation orders were sent out to nearby residents, the aftermath of the fire has left a few homes scorched along with a ton of bush.
According to one wind farm manager in the area, the large wind turbines, which were shut down due to the smoke from the fires, served as something of a refuge for deer in the area. Featuring a large stone-covered base, it was here that deer were huddled up as the flames raged past.
As he surveyed the damage from across his properties, he noticed numerous instances where both does and their fawns were huddled together beneath the massive turbines.
“That was their sanctuary — everything was burning around them,” the manager said.
All together, the farms are home to 132 wind turbines which are said to supply enough power to nearly 57,000 homes. While we are certainly hopeful that these incredibly efficient and space-saving inventions will one day be put to actual use on a larger scale, we can be thankful that they were for once put to good use and saved a handful of deer.
