Burn Bans Mark Start Of Fire Season

WAITSBURG - Burn bans have been set for the Touchet Valley, Firefighters are spending extra time train­ing and preparing tenders and trucks with the hope that this summer will be a quiet fire season.

The Fire District 2 burn ban for Waitsburg and the surrounding area began on July 1. The Fire District 3 burn ban for Columbia County began July 9. The bans will last through mid- September.

Fire District 3 Chief Rick Turner said the Touchet Val­ley is a very dry and flamma­ble area with lots of grasses and trees that may not receive much rain over the summer months. The grasses in the grain fields and along road­sides are most at risk for fires, he said.

The burn bans are set in the summer months to prevent massive fires from breaking out and spreading.

"Our chances of having a wildfire ignite increase (dur­ing these months)," Turner said.

With temperatures top­ By ping 100 degrees coming through the valley recently, fires are ignited easily, he said, because there is very little humidity. Also, wind that can accompany thunder and lightning storms can cause tree branches to fall on power lines and could also cause fires.

"(The fires) burn very hot and very fast," Turner said.

Our area is often plagued by large fires in the summer months.

In the Touchet Valley last summer, a large fire broke out on Whetstone Road in August 2011. The fire, be- lieved to have been sparked by a lawn mower, threatened two homes and burned 250 acres near the county line.

In 2006, Turner remem- bers a fire called the Co- lumbia Complex, caused by dry lightning, which local firefighters battled for about one month. Fire District 2 volunteer Firefighter Louis Gagnon said dry lightning ig- nited several small fires that eventually grew together into one large fire from the Cop- pei to the Tucannon rivers.

"It hit all over the place," Gagnon remembers.

In 2005, a fire caused by a power line broke out at the Upper end of the Tucannon River by Camp Wooten near Pomeroy.

Wildfires have recently broken out in the Southwest United States where the fires have become unmanageable and homes and lives are be- ing lost. Turner said he is watching the fires on TV and he hopes we don't experience anything like that in our area.

Gagnon said the local volunteer firefighters will handle a large fire for about 24 hours. If it is not managed in less than one day, the state's firefighters will come in to finish the job.

There is a fine line be- tween allowing local farmers to make a living and protect- ing our communities against fires.

Turner said ignition from vehicles, including farm tractors and trucks, can get hot and start fires that spread rapidly. Also, he said families recreating with all-terrain vehicles and campfires in un- safe locations can spark fires.

During the rest of the year, residents inside city limits are not allowed to burn, but can have recreational fires and barbecues. Residents outside of city limits and urban growth boundaries are allowed to burn natural brush and debris. However, in a burn ban, no burning is al- lowed except for recreational fires in designated areas, Turner said. Even a campfire that is unattended or burning too long can be a threat.

"We could have a fairly significant fire off of some- thing like that," he said. "It's our responsibility to provide for people's safety."

Unless we experience a long, dry fall season, the burn bans will be called off in mid-September, Turner said. The bans are called off so lo- cal farmers can start burning their fields to prepare for the next planting of fall wheat. Each fire department gets to decide when to start and end the bans.

Now, the members of Fire Districts 2 and 3 are making sure their equipment is in good shape, training, making sure radios are working properly and making sure the coolers are full of bottled water.

"We just try to be proac- tive," Turner said.

The firefighters will be out communicating the dangers of dry grass in the summer- time and urging people to be careful with possible ignition sources, which could be as simple as a match, lighter, campfire or vehicle.

"We just have to be vigi- lant when we get into hot, dry times around here," Turner said.

Mostly, they just ask that residents be mindful if their activities in this dry weather because the consequences of fire can be destructive and even deadly.

"Just be careful," Gagnon said. "The drier it gets - the bigger the chance something will happen."