MEDICAL LAKE — Fall may have arrived based on the calendar and the shift of the Earth on its axis, but conditions remain dry enough for wildfires.
Case in point, Medical Lake experienced two in as many days last week. On Tuesday, Sept. 25, an approximately five-acre stubble fire, possibly caused by a tractor hub, ignited a field north of the city and about a quarter mile west of the Fairchild Air Force Base border.
The fire was extinguished quickly, according to Spokane County Fire District 3 Battalion Chief Tom Brunke, who, along with other District 3 and District 10 firefighters, responded to the blaze.
Then on Wednesday, District 3 and Department of Natural Resources firefighters responded to reports of a brush fire near the campground area of Medical Lake’s Waterfront Park.
The small, 20-foot-by-30-foot fire was contained in a small ravine at what appeared to be a small transient camp. According to Brunke, firefighters found food items, a candle and what appeared to be a cooking hole containing charcoal. It took fire personnel about an hour and a half to mop-up that fire.
The cause was not determined. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Department was informed of the transient camp.
“Things are still dry enough to burn,” Brunke said of underbrush, noting that a scheduled prescribed burn on the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge the same week “took right off on them.”
Fire danger is currently listed as moderate, and outdoor burning prohibited without a permit, according to the DNR. Campfires are allowed only in designated DNR campgrounds, but remain prohibited in National Parks. The DNR recommends contacting your local fire district prior to lighting any fires.
Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].
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