Northwest firefighters ‘bracing for some type of major incident’
Jul 29, 2015, 1:03 PM | Updated: 3:15 pm
Fire departments up and down I-5 are reporting dramatic increases in brush fires and more, earlier in the season than expected. (Everett Fire Department)
(Everett Fire Department)
Fire departments up and down I-5 are reporting dramatic increases in brush fires and some officials are nervous as the summer season is far from over.
“There’s a great deal of nervousness and apprehension because already, with resources being deployed in a lot of areas — and here we go again with another week of 90 degree temperatures — we are just bracing for some type of major incident somewhere in this area, for sure, before the weekend is out,” said Assistant Chief Chuck Kahler with South King Fire and Rescue. “It just stands to reason.”
“We’re seeing fire levels that, historically, are not seen until sometime in mid-August, early September and this is just through July,” he added.
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The area’s unusual combination of hot weather and low rainfall has turned the Puget Sound landscape into little more than fuel for a flame. Kahler’s fire district is among many in the area that are on heightened alert for roadside fires.
“The humidity is so low that it doesn’t take much of a spark that we are getting fires that are larger and involving more areas,” he said.
“One way it is different than other years is that there is not a day that goes by that we are not out on some sort of brush fire, particularly if you drive down that I-5 corridor in the Seattle and South King County area, you’ll notice a lot of areas that are blackened,” Kahler said. “This is just been recently in the last month. We are seeing a tremendous amount more.”
The Seattle Fire Department is reporting an increase in brush fires of 178 percent June 1 through July 21, compared to 2014. Also, a 119 percent increase in fires stemming from beauty bark.
The numbers factor out to 442 fires related to the weather, including 225 brush fires and 217 beauty bark fires. In 2014, the Seattle Fire Department responded to 180 fires, including 81 brush and 99 bark fires during the same time span.
Before the Seattle Fire Department could even hold a July 22 press conference about the brush fire increase, its firefighters had already responded to four brush fires and four beauty bark fires. One brush fire that day burned along I-5 near 130th Avenue, blackening a 200-foot by 100-foot area of dry grass. That fire burned a tree in its path. A total of five fire engines were required to knock it down.
Many of the Seattle fires were caused by humans, such as campfires growing out of control. South King County experienced the same.
“The common factor with a lot of them is that they are human caused. I drive down the road and I see people driving with cigarettes and they’re hanging them out the window,” Kahler said. “People need to be reminded that throwing burning material from a vehicle can be an expensive fine if you’re cited by law enforcement.”
But perhaps no department or district has been hit as hard as West Pierce County Fire and Rescue. The district serving communities south of Tacoma is reporting a dramatic increase in brush fires it has responded to. Call volumes are up 8 percent, but that pales in comparison to the number of fires the district is tackling, according to King 5.
Between June 1-20, the West Pierce fire department took on 102 brush fires. One year ago, during the same time frame, the district responded to 14 brush fires. That amounts to an increase of 700 percent in brush fire responses for the district, King 5 reports.
