CHIMACUM — A vegetation fire, roughly an acre in size, led to a closure of Beaver Valley Road Thursday evening.
At approximately 5:45 p.m., multiple 911 callers reported the blaze, which happened to be located adjacent to a 2023 Beaver Valley Fire, according to East Jefferson Fire Rescue (EJFR) Community Risk Manager Robert Wittenberg.
Once dispatched, crews arrived and took action in about 5½ minutes, the release said. Crews from EJFR responded with Battalion Chief (BC) Justin Clouse, brush engines and four water tenders, according to an EFJR press release.
First responders observed grass and brush burning on a slope on the east side of the road.
“The wind was mild this evening and in our favor, but if we had winds like the other night or similar to 2023, we would have really struggled to contain this fire,” Clouse said.
Coincidentally, Clouse was the BC during the 2023 fire as well.
“The firefighters quickly extended lines along both flanks as the fire started to spread up the hill, and into the trees,” the release said. “Additional firefighters arrived to assist with extinguishment while the BC established command and performed a threat assessment to adjacent houses.”
Crews were able to control the fire in about 20 minutes, Wittenberg said.
Due to the location of the fire and so that crews could situate their firefighting vehicles safely, EJFR closed the road to traffic, Wittenberg said.
The area was cleared in about 90 minutes, he added.
The water tenders were manned by a cadre of well-trained volunteers, according to the release.
“What was really helpful with this was that the relative humidity was pretty high, it was at 58 percent,” Wittenberg said. “Usually when it gets into that 30 to 50 percent range, that’s safe for a prescribed burn. When it goes below 30, that’s when it’s really dangerous.”
Past lessons
The humidity and low wind were helpful, but also, because of the 2023 fire, the property owner had worked on clearing excess fuel in the area, Wittenberg said.
“That created a bit of a firebreak so that it didn’t impede and come close to his structure again,” Wittenberg said. “It really was a good example of showing how fuel reduction really has a big impact on these fires.”
Wittenberg noted that conditions right now are very, very dry.
“Even though the growth on the ground looks relatively green, it’s that undergrowth underneath it that is really dry and really contributes to fire spread,” Wittenberg said. “We’ve had a number of fires in the last month or two where it’s gotten away because of that low dead material underneath.”
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at Elijah.sussman @sequimgazette.com
