Burn pile ignites field fire near Forest Grove

A burn pile ignited a field fire near Forest Grove on Tuesday, July 2, authorities reported.

At 12:43 p.m., Forest Grove Fire & Rescue responded to a fire in the 6600 block of Northwest Kansas City Road in rural Washington County.

Crews arrived within 10 minutes of being dispatched, finding a cut crimson clover field ablaze in two areas. Responders encircled the perimeter with a four-wheel apparatus and doused the flames within 10 minutes.

Despite windy conditions, firefighters managed to prevent the fire from spreading to unprocessed crops laid out in a portion of the field.

While crews were initially responding, a column of smoke in the distance prompted the fire chief to escalate the response, but responders canceled additional resource requests due to the quick containment.

An investigation revealed that the blaze originated from embers carried by wind from a neighbor's burning debris, which crews extinguished to prevent additional fires.

In a release, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue brought attention to the active burn ban enacted by Washington County fire departments, which prohibits yard debris, agricultural and logging debris burns.

“With temperatures expected to reach 100 degrees this weekend, it is a good idea to wet down old burn piles in case there is pockets of heat still left in it,” the fire agency said in a statement.

The Cornelius Fire Department and Banks Fire District assisted Forest Grove Fire & Rescue.