Attempt to burn termites out of log sparks brush fire on Four Corners Road in Jefferson County

Published 6:30 pm Monday, August 10, 2015

PORT TOWNSEND — An attempt to burn termites out of a log sparked a small brush fire on Four Corners Road.

The Sunday evening fire burn an estimated one-tenth of an acre, according to Deputy Chief Ted Krysinski of East Jefferson Fire-Rescue.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at 6:29 p.m. after neighbors noticed flames and a plume of smoke near the 800 block of Four Corners Road between state Highway 19 and state Highway 20 and called 9-1-1, emergency dispatchers, department spokesman Bill Beezley said.

They contained the fire within five minutes, Beezley said.

An unidentified man and his son had been cutting logs in the area, Beezley said.

One log was infested with termites, and the son used a lighter to burn them out, he added.

The fire spread to dry grass and grew from there, he said.

Navy firefighters from Naval Magazine Indian Island assisted in putting the fire out and later overhauling the site.

Two pumpers, one water tender and a brush truck, along with 11 firefighters, responded to the call.