The Chiefs Desk; First, I want to share what I know today about the wild fire situation in Central and Eastern Washington. Pierce County fire departments have several resources dispersed throughout the State at several separate fires. For Key Peninsula, Ken Foss is the Strike Team leader and his team was moved from the Goldendale area to a new fire in the Spokane area. Doug Gelsleichter is on our brush engine and is still in the Omak area and they are anticipating being moved to the huge fire that stretches from Pateros to Winthrop. The structure engine Strike Team that went to Twisp on Friday night was released this morning and they are on their way home now. Pierce County also sent a structure engine Strike Team to Renton yesterday after an apartment fire became a brush fire with other structures becoming involved. Those crews returned last night. Obviously an incredibly busy fire season and it is still early in the year. Conditions locally, although nothing like Eastern Washington, are very dry and the fire danger signs throughout the region have been upgraded to Moderate. We remain in a Stage-1 burn ban which means only small recreation fires in approved burn pits are permitted. Our crews responded to 48 incidents this week including a structure fire in the old Longbranch fire station near the ball field at the Longbranch Improvement Club. The fire was found to be an accidental fire in a converted living space at the rear section of the building. The occupant was heating cooking oil in the kitchen when the heated oil was spilled onto the stove and caught fire. She attempted to extinguish the fire with water which caused the fire to spread rapidly to the counter and cabinets. The fire safety tip for the day is, grease and oil fires dont mix well with water. If you have a cooking fire, dont panic, use a lid or wet towel to smother the fire. We also responded to 4 vehicle collisions, 2 other structure fires in Gig Harbor, 2 water rescue incidents and a motor home fire on SR302 near 118th Ave, NW. I really appreciate all the comments from my last Chiefs Desk post and promise that I read every one of them. Your feedback is always important to us. If you would like me to speak at your community group, please contact me to set it up. Thank you for all your support! Guy R. Allen - Fire Chief
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 19:54:22 +0000
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