PORT TOWNSEND — A fast-moving wildfire exploded from a few acres to more than 30 acres in four hours Monday, threatening homes in the Discovery Bay enclave of Beckett Point.
At 8 p.m., Jefferson County Sheriff Tony Hernandez said the fire about five miles southwest of Port Townsend was 75 percent contained.
Children playing with fireworks apparently caused the blaze, which was called in to 9-1-1 about 2:45 p.m.
“The fire was going up and down the hills there,” said East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Keppie Keplinger.
“It was going at a pretty good clip when fire crews arrived.”
The fire was estimated by dusk to have burned between 30 acres and 50 acres of wooded hillside and grass.
As darkness set in Monday night, the fire still was threatening some homes on wooded slopes on the bluff overlooking Discovery Bay, Hernandez said.
“The challenge is the steep, rugged terrain,” he said.
By midevening Monday, no homes had burned and there were no forced evacuations, although officials at one point put residents in the path of the flames on standby.
A total of 75 firefighters from Jefferson, Clallam and Kitsap counties were involved in the effort to contain the fire, said Bill Beezley, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman.
“The fire was caused by kids playing with bottle rockets,” Hernandez said of the type of fireworks shot out of a bottle or pipe.
Three youths, ages 12-15 years, indicated to investigators that they may have caused the fire, he said.
There were no arrests as of Monday evening, the sheriff added.
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue was lead agency in the firefight at the start.
The state Department of Natural Resources took over fire management when the agency began dropping water, Beezley said.
A DNR helicopter dropped at least eight loads of water on the fire before dark, he said.
East Jefferson units were on scene, and off-duty firefighters were recalled to battle the blaze
Assistance was provided by Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue, as well as units from Sequim-based Clallam County Fire District No. 3 and Kitsap County.
There were no mandatory evacuations, though residents were told to prepare to leave on short notice.
If the wind shifted to an easterly wind, those residents would have been evacuated, Hernandez said.
Winds helped firefighters by blowing downslope toward the water for most of the afternoon as firefighters dug fire lines above the flames.
The fire burned in grassy areas and in heavily timbered, overgrown sections where trees often torched as the flames reached them.
At times the fire approached within 50 feet of homes, but firefighters had a handle on the flames by 6 p.m.
Mop up of the fire will continue for eight to 10 days — until fire crews are sure that every ember is extinguished, Beezley said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
