By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Salkum area Fire Chief Duran McDaniel says some members of the public are not paying attention to the burn ban.
“It’s only going to take one spark,” McDaniel said today as he lamented the number of people over the weekend lighting bon fires, even though they are currently prohibited in Lewis County because of the very dry vegetation.
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Just last week, a riding lawn mower ignited a grass fire on Tucker Road, which took a crew of about 20 people to extinguish and hold to two acres. It happened the same day a fire broke out in Rochester that spread over more than 400 acres, destroying two homes and other property.
“I was out Saturday night and we put out six campfires, and that was just in District 8,” McDaniel said. “Five of those were in Mayfield Village.”
McDaniel said his neighbors at fire departments in Onalaska and rural Chehalis were out doing the same thing.
Most of the people he contacted, and watched extinguish their campfires, told him they didn’t know about the ban, he said.
McDaniel said fire conditions here in Lewis County are identical to those in Rochester.
Not only is it dangerous, but it could be costly for a person who starts a wildfire, he said.
“If DNR comes out, it’s a bill to the landowner,” he said.
A red flag warning is in place in most of East Lewis County through tomorrow night, due to very hot, dry and unstable conditions mostly above 1,500 feet.