DISCOVERY BAY — Firefighters continued to mop up hot spots Wednesday at Beckett Point, where a Labor Day blaze burned more than 21 acres.
“The crew really made good progress today,” said Seth Barnes, spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources, on Wednesday.
“They’ve been able to downsize the number and size of hot spots,” he said.
Hot spots
The fire was contained by Tuesday, but hot spots remained within the charred area.
Jefferson County Sheriff Tony Hernandez has recommended to the county prosecuting attorney that three unidentified juveniles face charges in connection with the fire.
He said they caused the blaze when they tried to light bottle rockets using a spray can of the rust inhibitor WD-40 as an accelerant.
A DNR Type 3 Incident Management Team of about 10 people, which is led by Pat Halford and Incident Cmdr. Bruce Myer, arrived Tuesday at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds to set up a command post to manage a total of about 140 people working on fire suppression, Barnes said.
Returned to local team
By Saturday, work on the fire is expected to be returned to the local DNR team, he said, saying that today is expected to be a “key shift.
“If everything goes as well as today, tomorrow will be the final big shift, with Friday being a lighter crew,” Barnes said.
Crew members plan to use an infrared camera to look for hot spots that can’t be seen with the naked eye, he said.
“Upwards of 50 will be working the fire” today, Barnes said.
Some East Jefferson Fire-Rescue personnel assisted the DNR crews Wednesday, Barnes said.
Stay off beach
The public is being asked to stay off the beach below the fire area and away from the fire line.
Beckett Point Road and Cape George Road near the fire area are restricted to local residents only during the mop-up.
The fire threatened homes, coming within 10 feet of some of them Monday.
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue and DNR firefighters were assisted in fighting the flames by departments from Sequim, Discovery Bay, Quilcene, Port Ludlow, Naval Magazine Indian Island and Kitsap County.