PORT ANGELES — The state Department of Natural Resources is investigating the cause of a brush fire that burned on a hill south of Blyn on Friday, Clallam County Fire District 3 officials said.
District 3 Duty Chief Eric Quitslund said the fast-moving fire burned in logging slash from an old landing. No structures were in danger, he said.
Smoke from the fire was visible from U.S. Highway 101, prompting numerous 9-1-1 calls Friday afternoon.
“We all got there at about the same time,” Quitslund said of the DNR-District 3 response. “It kept on growing and growing.”
Quitslund estimated that the fire had grown to about 1½ acres before it was contained.
He said the cause of the fire appeared to be accidental.
District 3 provided a brush engine and two water tenders for the initial response, Quitslund said.
A DNR helicopter dropped buckets of water from Sequim Bay onto the fire.
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue sent a brush crew to augment the response, Quitslund said.
Meanwhile, DNR crews were responding to an estimated 400-acre wildfire that was burning near Wenatchee on Friday.
Due to warmer weather, low humidity and reduced moisture levels, the Clallam County fire danger was upgraded to high on Friday, Fire Marshal Annette Warren announced.
A smaller brush fire northeast of Blyn was contained to less than one acre on Wednesday.
