Over 100 fire calls made across Grant County during Fourth of July weekend

MOSES LAKE — Fireworks sparked over 100 fire calls across Grant County during the Fourth of July holiday, stretching local fire agencies and volunteers as crews raced from one incident to the next under dangerous fire weather conditions. 

"All I can say is wow," Grant County Fire Marshal Nathan Poplawski said in a statement released following the holiday weekend.  

The amount of fires responded to over the Fourth of July weekend was roughly double the number recorded during the first week of the county's burn restrictions, according to Poplawski.  

"The vast majority were fireworks related," Poplawski wrote in a statement. 

Despite the overwhelming call volume, firefighters were able to keep most of the fires small. Poplawski said only limited property damage was reported in most cases, although several larger fires required significant resources. Grant County avoided the catastrophic losses seen just across the Columbia River in Douglas County, where the McNeil Canyon Fire had burned approximately 15,000 acres and destroyed more than 100 structures by the end of the holiday weekend. 

"When you see firefighters, please thank them," Poplawski said in his statement. "Most of them are volunteers and they gave up their holiday so you could enjoy yours." 

Coulee City  

Coulee City Fire Department didn’t have a lot of trouble on its own turf, but did step up to help out other departments. 

“We were trying to enforce the fireworks ban in the (Coulee City) park from the (Bureau of Land management) and the Bureau of Reclamation,” said Chief Jesse Bolyard. “And then we got called to the Blue Lake Fire.” 

That fire, also called the Moore Road Fire, was discovered in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, and briefly closed down state Route 17 between Soap Lake and Coulee City Sunday. Coulee City FD had four people out fighting that fire and one more directing traffic, Bolyard said. 

The BLM and Bureau of Reclamation issued a joint proclamation in May that fireworks were to be prohibited on federal lands in 20 central and eastern Washington counties, including the jetty at the Coulee City Park. Not that it stopped people. 

“As soon as I left with the fire trucks, they were blowing fireworks off,” Bolyard said. 

Ephrata  

The Ephrata Fire Department responded to 10 wildland fire calls between July 4 and the early morning hours of July 6, according to Fire Chief Jeremy Burns.  

Five of those incidents occurred within Ephrata, while crews also provided mutual aid to neighboring departments, including a significant fire near Soap Lake on Maple Drive. 

“We had a busy Fourth of July,” Burns said. “Fires really started about 10:30 that evening.” 

Among the weekend's notable incidents was a fire reported around 3 a.m. Sunday that began in grass and spread to a large deck surrounding an above-ground swimming pool. 

Another call came shortly after 2 a.m. Monday when fireworks discarded in a dumpster continued smoldering for days before reigniting. 

“We were thankful that no one was hurt, no equipment damaged,” Burns said. 

Grant County Fire District 13 Chief Jim Stucky said his department handled six or seven fire calls over the holiday weekend and assisted on mutual-aid responses. 

“It was more than the last couple years,” Stucky said. 

Stucky described one incident in which a resident admitted concerns before lighting fireworks.  

“(It was) the very first fireworks that they lit up and it turned into a pretty good-sized fire,” he said. 

Despite property damage that included burned fences and decks, Burns said no structures were lost.  

“Our firefighter's dedication to our community is constant,” Burns said. “They’re here to serve people and be part of something bigger than themselves.” 

Othello  

Some fire departments had a fairly quiet Fourth of July. 

“We didn’t have anything bad this weekend,” said Adams County Fire District 5 Chief Tom Salzbury. “I’m glad I can say that.” 

There were a few grass fires caused by fireworks, Salsbury said, but his crews got on them quickly. It helped that his volunteers, about 25 of them, were all at the station for a barbecue, prepared to go out at a moment’s notice. The last call came in about 1 or 1:30 p.m., he said. 

Adams County doesn’t have a ban on fireworks, nor do any of the cities and towns in the county, Salsbury said, which could have spelled trouble. 

“It could have been a lot worse around here,” he said. “It was like a war zone in Othello because they let (people) shoot (fireworks) off in the city and in the county, and they were shooting them off, a lot of them. But luckily we didn’t have any issues.” 

Not only that, Salsbury said, but he didn’t hear of any other serious fires in any other part of the county. Banning fireworks probably wouldn’t have made a lot of difference in Adams County, Salsbury thought, because people simply don’t pay attention to those restrictions. 

“We have a burn ban on, and we still go to fires all the time,” he said. “You advertise it everywhere and you tell (people), but (they still do it).” 

Moses Lake

Moses Lake Fire Department handled about 18 calls over a 24-hour period, said Chief Art Perillo, none of them serious except for a boating accident on Sunday. Everything else was brush and vegetation fires and routine medical calls, he said. 

“Within the city’s jurisdiction we didn’t have any structural damage,” he said. “The fires that we responded to, were able to contain to the brush and vegetation where they originated.” 

All the fires the MLFD responded to were associated with fireworks despite a city ban on them, Perillo said. 

Grant County Fire District 5

Travis Svilar, battalion chief for Grant County Fire District 5, said GCFD crews were out on the fire lines most of the weekend.  

“We responded to a total of 41 calls,” Svilar said. “That was just Friday and Saturday,” 

Of those, seven were on Friday, with the rest on Saturday, he said.  

“The majority of the calls that we went to were fireworks-related,” Svilar said.  

Fire crews know they will be busy over the July 4 holiday, so Svilar said he spent some time in advance planning, and it paid off. 

“All of our paid personnel were assigned a truck or an area for Saturday night,” he said. “I had about 30 pieces of equipment and about 40 people spread throughout our fire district.” 

Svilar said he analyzed historical trends to determine the most likely fire locations, which provided quicker response times. Crews were stationed near the Moses Lake Sand Dunes, Cascade Valley and the Larson area, among others. Svilar estimated up to 10 or 12 trucks were on the scene of some fires within a few minutes. 

“That allowed us to catch a fire and minimize the spread,” he said. 

Grant County Fire District 8

Crews from GCFD 8 responded to 10 fire call over the weekend, according to district officials. Those included wildland fires, smoke investigations and fire alarms.   

Grant County Fire District 3

Grant County Fire District 3 Chief David Durfee said it was a busy weekend, but most of the fires were relatively minor.  

“Between July 3 and July 5, District 3 responded to 40 calls for service, including 22 outside fires,” Durfee wrote in response to a question from the Columbia Basin Herald. “Despite responding to 40 calls, no structures were lost, all three licensed fireworks (displays) were conducted without incident and no major wildland fires occurred within our district.” 

Durfee paid tribute to GCFD 3 personnel and volunteers, law enforcement and EMS agencies, its mutual aid partners and MACC, the county emergency dispatch system.  

“Your professionalism, teamwork and commitment allowed our communities to celebrate safely while ensuring emergency services remained ready to respond when needed,” he said. 

Durfee also commended GCFD 3 residents and visitors who observed municipal and district rules for fireworks displays.  

“That is a success made possible by the combined efforts of our firefighters, partner agencies, event organizers and a community that took fire safety seriously.”