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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fire crews remain on lookout

Christopher Rodkey Staff writer

Despite half of June seeing rain instead of sun, fire officials aren’t going easy on would-be pyrotechnic artists.

“Just because we got a shot of rain, we won’t let our guard down,” said Steve Harris, a fire-prevention specialist for Washington state’s Department of Natural Resources.

Fireworks season often finds fire crews on high alert. But after a wetter-than-normal spring, the outlook for this Fourth of July holiday weekend isn’t as dire. “Conditions are looking a little better than they have over the last few years,” Harris said.

Soaking rains Monday brought the month’s rain total to around an inch for Spokane, said meteorologist Robin Fox of the National Weather Service, and showers might pepper area mountains during the holiday weekend.

Monday’s cooler, rainy weather helped firefighters combating a 25,000-acre fire that charred grass and wheat fields in Walla Walla County, said assistant state fire marshal Steve Kalmbach.

Smoke from the fire could be seen in the skies over Spokane on Sunday afternoon.

Although the rain helped extinguish the Walker Canyon fire, which started Saturday about 3 p.m. just outside Clyde, about 25 miles north of Walla Walla, credit should be given to firefighters, Kalmbach said.

The state dispatched 45 firefighters from Benton and Franklin counties to help local firefighters, 20 engines and three tenders, said Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Janet Pearce. The agency also dispatched a helicopter to douse flames with buckets of water.

The cause of the fire still was unknown Monday.

Sunny weather is expected to return later this week, and it might cause some grasslands to dry out by the holiday, Fox said.

A little rain won’t keep the tickets away, DNR’s Harris said.

“We’re still going to have our patrols, and we’re still going to be out there writing tickets,” he said.

Rangers and officers will be writing tickets for the use of fireworks on public land, with fines that can reach $5,000 or a maximum of six months in jail. And if someone starts a fire, state and federal law says that person might have to foot the firefighting bill, which can be $1,000 or $2,000 per acre.

Officers pay special attention to the road between Spokane and Ford, Harris said, where motorists buy fireworks on the Spokane Indian Reservation and then sometimes send the lighted fireworks flying out of their vehicles during the drive home.

The DNR also will close a section of parking area along state Highway 291 between Tum Tum and Red Lake to prevent people from lighting fireworks there.

In recent years, a pattern has developed of a wet spring followed by a very warm late July and early August, and that trend probably will continue this year, Fox said.

In the meantime, Harris said, crews will be posting signs and getting the word out.

“The laws haven’t changed because it’s raining.”