It was a wetter-than-normal winter and spring that nourished the North Olympic Peninsula’s grasslands into potential wildfire hazards as the summer warmed and parched them from green blades to tall-standing straw.
“This time of year, people just need to be very careful, recognizing that things are drying out,” said Capt. Daryl Sharpe, in charge of Clallam County Fire District No. 3’s wildland firefighter training.
His department covers the eastern part of Clallam County, which includes the Sequim-Dungeness Valley’s prairie grasslands.
On Friday, Sharpe received a notice from state Department of Natural Resources announcing that the fire risk in Clallam and Jefferson counties has been raised to moderate, which annually occurs when warmer summer days with little or no precipitation come around.
A burn ban is in effect for the entire North Olympic Peninsula.
Sharpe talked about a recent two-acre fire, cause unknown, that charred land near Pierce Road in the Diamond Point area east of Blyn.
That same area on the Miller Peninsula, most of it state park land, has a history of much larger grassland wildfires, he said.
While wildfires like that in the remote wooded Miller Peninsula are visibly smoky from a distance, fires near or around homes are more threatening, he said, but are preventable.
Most manmade
A majority of fires are manmade, Sharpe and state wildfire officials contend.
“Most of the fires along [U.S.] Highway 101 are the result of discarded cigarettes,” Sharpe said.
Another common cause of fire can be a hot muffler under a vehicle that comes in contact with high grass.
“We have had fires start from sparks generated from lawn mowers and from brush hogs on tractors,” Sharpe said, adding that a mower blade coming into contact with a rock causes such ignition.
Those mowing high grass should have a water extinguisher or water available, he said.
Mowing the grass around a structure is a good idea, he said.
Grass should be cut and brush cleared at least 30 feet around structures to prevent fire from reaching them, Sharpe said.
“I would say probably the biggest wildland fire has been in the fireweed complex, off East Sequim Bay Road on the Miller Peninsula, which occurred in the early last decade,” said Sharpe, who has been with the district since 1991.
“It was close to 100 acres and caused by an exhaust pipe.
“We had crews there for about a week with a helicopter and DNR [Department of Natural Resources] support.”
Those with questions about fire prevention can phone the Olympic Region Department of Natural Resources at 360-374-2800.
For land clearing and residential backyard burning regulations, phone Olympic Region Clean Air Agency at 800-422-5623.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
