Tri-Cities fire departments busy with dozens of fires as residents celebrate July 4

Tri-Cities firefighters spent the Fourth of July racing to dozens of fires across the region.

The PulsePoint app lists about 50 calls for fires throughout Benton and Franklin counties. While Tri-Cities fire agencies reported being busy, there was little property reported damaged and no one reported hurt.

Officials believe a combination of planning and favorable weather conditions helped keep the damage down, said Kennewick Deputy Fire Chief Michael Heffner, Benton County Fire District 4 Chief Paul Carlyle and Jenna Roberts, the Benton County Fire District 1 public information officer.

Most of the fires started between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. as people started setting off fireworks.

Fireworks, in some form, are legal throughout much of the Tri-Cities with West Richland having the loosest restrictions.

Kennewick responded to a number of fires in dumpsters as well as one fire that started in the decorative plants between two homes on the 6800 block of Fourth Avenue, Heffner said.

The fire burned along the fence line and damaged two homes and a vehicle. It didn’t force anyone out of their homes.

Benton County Fire District 1, which serves the areas south of Kennewick and Richland, responded to 13 fires, but most of them were small, Roberts told the Tri-City Herald.

One of the largest fires happened in a rural area of Benton County near the corner of Meals and Ayers roads. The cause of the three acre fire that started at 9:21 p.m. hasn’t been determined, but firefighters working in the rugged terrain were able to get it out.

Benton County Fire District 1 also responded to a fire on Yellowstone Avenue off of Edison Street, where fireworks was suspected as the cause of a blaze that burned about half an acre, according to a Facebook post from the district.

Benton County Fire District 4 firefighters, who cover West Richland, also were busy responding to a number of small fires, with the two brush fires being the biggest.

Good Conditions

Firefighters were helped on Thursday by the weather. The Tri-Cities hasn’t seen an extended period of high temperatures, yet. The mild temperatures combined with low winds and higher than normal humidity made sure the fires that started stayed manageable, all three fire officials said.

“We were in an optimal position,” Heffner said. “We had the extra staffing. ... There were certainly high temperatures, but we didn’t have high winds and humidity levels were moderate,”

The fire departments across the region had also met with each other to plan for staffing and response. Roberts told the Herald that her district sent fewer firefighters to each fire. This way they could respond faster.

“We had a very coordinated plan among all of the fire districts,” she said.

Officials are concerned about the upcoming heat wave that promises to dry out grass and sagebrush with above 100 degree temperatures. They’re asking residents to be careful as temperatures could get up to 110 degrees in the next week.