Dry conditions have area fire officials on edge as Independence Day approaches.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for all of Western Washington, which will be in effect today through Sunday.
People are urged to be extremely cautious with fireworks, campfires, barbecuing, mechanical equipment, smoking and any other fire source, the service said in a statement. Residents are also encouraged to report any fire as quickly as possible by phoning 9-1-1.
Warnings are issued when warm weather is coupled with dry “fuel” — in other words, the vegetation is dry from lack of rain — said Bill Sanders, fire official for the state Department of Natural Resources Olympic Region.
Port Angeles Fire Marshal Ken Dubuc said the conditions, coupled with the expected use of personal fireworks on the Fourth of July, have made him nervous about the potential for fire.
“High temperatures and low fuel moisture are really bad conditions,” he said. “People need to be extremely careful with campfires and with fireworks.
“Often people look out at the mountains and see the green and think that it is asbestos or something that won’t burn.
“But it does burn, and it burns well.”
Moderate fire danger
Sanders, who determines the fire danger level, set the level at moderate Wednesday — which also triggered a North Olympic Peninsula-wide burn ban for fires larger than 3-by-3 feet.
But even smaller fires or a cigarette can be dangerous, Sanders said.
DNR firefighters put out six wildland fires Thursday, he said.
None of them spread very far, he said.
“I’m very concerned about the fireworks this weekend,” Sanders said. “I’m also very concerned about the people who start the illegal bonfires and often just leave them burning.”
Dubuc said he hopes people will be respectful of their neighbors within Port Angeles and go to large parking lots or other areas without brush to set off fireworks.
Such areas can be used for personal fireworks between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. on the Fourth of July within the Port Angeles city limit — except for City Pier, Hollywood Beach or along the Waterfront Trail.
Personal fireworks are permitted to be discharged in Port Angeles on the Fourth of July only.
Fireworks are prohibited entirely within the Port Townsend city limit.
They are permitted in Sequim and in the unincorporated areas of both Clallam and Jefferson counties — outside city limits — from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. today, from 9 a.m. to midnight Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday.
Fireworks are also permitted within the Forks city limit through Sunday, but the noise is expected to stop at about 10 p.m.
“We just ask that people be respectful of their neighbors,” Forks Mayor Nedra Reed has said.
Dubuc said that every year he hopes for rain on the Fourth of July, but this year it is not expected.
“Every year, we get more and more small fires and concerns on the Fourth,” Dubuc said.
“I don’t know when the Fourth of July turned into a holiday that people could just go out and blow stuff up.
“They are just not considerate of their neighbors.”
Sanders said that the highest fire danger is when the temperature rises to 80 degrees or more, with an easterly wind.
Those conditions are expected in some parts of the North Olympic Peninsula, he said.
But by Saturday, the temperature is expected to drop to the low to mid 70s.
“I’m hoping that it will be a one-day red flag,” he said.
Dubuc said: “I was just talking to someone [on Thursday], and they were asking why we were worried about fireworks because we never have fires.
“We definitely do have fires, though.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
