Kitsap County Fire Marshal expands burn ban
Published 4:42 pm Friday, July 10, 2015
PORT ORCHARD — Continued hot and dry weather has elevated fire danger to high levels, according to fire officials in Kitsap County.
The county fire marshal on July 10 expanded the countywide ban on outdoor burning to include recreational burning, effective immediately.
A Phase II outdoor burn ban prohibits all types of outdoor fires, regardless of whether the fire is in a designated fire place or campground. With limited exceptions, no open flames are permitted; the prohibition does not include gas or propane-fired appliances. It also doesn’t affect barbecues using charcoal briquettes.
“The spread of yesterday’s half-acre fire in Hansville shows how dangerous conditions have become,” Fire Marshal David Lynam said in the announcement. A fire at Point No Point Park scorched nearly a half-acre of vegetation and driftwood July 9, North Kitsap Fire & Rescue spokeswoman Michele Laboda reported.
Suppressing the Point No Point fire required the work of 20 firefighters for more than 12 hours, Laboda reported. Agencies responding: North Kitsap Fire & Rescue, Bainbridge Island Fire Department, East Jefferson Fire & Rescue, Kitsap County Public Works, and Poulsbo Fire Department.
Officials haven’t been able to determine an exact cause for the blaze, but say there’s evidence suggesting that it was sparked by either an improperly-extinguished beach fire or fireworks, Laboda reported.
Beach fires and fireworks are always prohibited in Kitsap County’s parks.
Showers and cooler temperatures are forecast for the weekend, but officials don’t expect help from this minor shift in the weather.
“It’ll take much more than a few showers to improve conditions,” Lynam said. “It took a long time to create this situation; it will take a long period of cooler temperatures and a lot of rain to make it better.”
For more information about the burn ban, contact your local fire department, or call the Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s office, 360-337-5777.
An excavator from Kitsap County Public Works helps firefighters pick apart piles of burning logs in a fire at the county’s Point No Point Park, July 9. Photo: North Kitsap Fire & Rescue
This panoramic view of the fire on the beach at Point No Point Park was taken over the cabin of NKF&R’s fire-rescue boat, Marine 81. Photo: North Kitsap Fire & Rescue
