County, National Park Burn Bans follow Thursday Wildfire on San Juan

A DNR helicopter releases water over San Juan Island Thursday. San Juan Island Fire & Rescue, Contribued.

Hay­ley Day, San Juan Island Update

Heli­copters doused and extin­guished a rough­ly 3 acre wild­fire like­ly start­ed by yard­work on San Juan Island Thurs­day. Since the inci­dent, the coun­ty and Nation­al Park Ser­vice have declared local burn bans. 

Fire

No one was injured, but two small out­build­ings were dam­aged by Thurs­day’s fire.

Crews received a report of a wild­fire near West Side Road and Pleas­ant Val­ley Road around 2:15 p.m., Thurs­day, accord­ing to San Juan Island Fire & Res­cue. When crews arrived, the fire extend­ed north and east across a field and into trees. 

Two Wash­ing­ton State Depart­ment of Nat­ur­al Resources heli­copters were called to drop water over hotspots. San Juan Fire & Res­cue said they were grate­ful for the assistance. 

“DNR’s deploy­ment of fire­fight­ing assets to our region at Lake Big­gs for rapid wild­fire response is a huge help for all of us in the San Juan Islands,” the depart­ment said in a press release.

The depart­ment reports the “fire appears to have start­ed as a result of rou­tine yard work” and warned res­i­dents of the dry conditions. 

“Please be extra care­ful of all you do dur­ing this dri­er than nor­mal sum­mer,” a spokesper­son for the depart­ment said. “We are all in this togeth­er and we all need to be vig­i­lant, and alert to pre­vent fires.”

Burn Bans

San Juan Coun­ty issued a “com­plete burn ban” Fri­day until fur­ther notice, accord­ing to a press release. Camp­fires are not allowed, but propane bar­be­cues are permitted. 

Sat­ur­day, the San Juan Island Nation­al His­tor­i­cal Park issued restric­tions for its two sites, Amer­i­can Camp and Eng­lish Camp, “due to very dry con­di­tions and increas­ing fire dan­ger on San Juan Island,” accord­ing to a press release. Wood, char­coal or propane camp­fires or grills are not per­mit­ted in the park sites, as well as can­dles, tiki torch­es and incense burn­ers, accord­ing to the release. 

You can support the San Juan Update by doing business with our loyal advertisers, and by making a one-time contribution or a recurring donation.