Dry and hot weather is adding to the number of fires in Sammamish and surrounding areas, fire officials say.
Eastside Fire & Rescue crews responded Aug. 7 to the third fire to pop up within a two-week span in Sammamish.
The grass fire caught in the 2000 block of 277th Avenue Southeast, just inside the eastern city border, Aug. 7 around 5 p.m. It was contained to 100 feet by 150 feet after about 40 minutes with no structures burned and no damage, according to Eastside Deputy Chief Greg Tryon.
The King County fire investigator on the case was not available for comment by the Reporter’s Wednesday press deadline, as county investigators are quite busy responding to fires popping up in the area.
Given the lack of lightning-caused fires on the west side of the mountain range, Tryon said he’s comfortable in thinking it was human caused.
In general, he has seen a “big increase” in call volume for the Eastside Fire & Rescue coverage area this year.
There were 120 more fire calls, including bark, brush and wildland, this year than in 2014, according to EF&R data. That is more than 2.5 times as many.
The total number of calls this year was 164 compared to 44 in 2014.
The Eastside partnership includes Issaquah, Sammamish, North Bend and fire districts 10 and 38 in unincorporated King County.
People can help keep fire danger at a minimum by cleaning up debris around the home, cutting the grass (even if it’s dead) and keeping low tree branches trimmed, Tryon said.
Also, residents should be aware of the burn ban in effect throughout the county, which began June 22. Statewide, all 39 counties, as well as state and federal lands, have burn bans in effect.
The Duvall Fire Department and King County Fire District 27, based in Fall City, assisted Eastside crews Aug. 7.
Before this incident, a brush fire in the 3200 block East Lake Sammamish Parkway near the Redmond border stalled traffic July 29 between 4-5 p.m. The day before, July 28, a bog caught fire in Klahanie and stretched out 100 yards from nearby homes around 7 p.m. This fire will likely smolder until the fall rain returns, Tryon said.
Tryon said the Klahanie fire was caused by a small campfire in a “hangout” spot in the middle of the bog. The fire on the parkway, Tryon said, was likely also human caused. The county fire investigator, the same for the Aug. 7 fire, could not be reached to confirm the cause by the press deadline.
There are five large, active fires burning throughout Washington as of Wednesday, Aug. 12, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, a public information service that provides timely data on fires across the Pacific Northwest.
Nationally, there are 48 large, active fires roaring in 13 states bringing the national preparedness level to a 4 out of 5, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In all, 440,421 acres have burned and only two of those 48 are contained.
For more information on the county’s burn ban, visit www.kingcounty.gov/property/FireMarshal/BurnBanInfo.aspx.
