District 3 firefighters extinguish brush fire on Bailer Hill
By JAMES KRALL
Journal of the San Juans Reporter
July 28, 2008 · Updated 11:38 PM
District 3 firefighters extinguished a brush fire on Bailer Hill’s Botsford Lane midday July 22.
Homes on the hillside above and wind pushing the fire up the hill became causes for concern. Luckily, said District 3 Fire Chief Steve Marler, the moisture level in all but the lightest grasses was still high enough to slow the fire’s progress enough to allow it to be put out easily.
“Looks like light fuels at this point, thankfully,” Marler said. “Fuel moistures are still high enough that we didn’t have a real difficult rate of spread to deal with. It was nice that the fire kind of hung out and waited for us to get here and put it out.”
The fire is believed to have been caused by a campfire that got away.
“We actually had a young man come up to us and he believed he was the cause of the fire,” Marler said. “It does indeed appear that it was a campfire that got away from him. It was accidental. It doesn’t seem malicious at all.”
The fire started near the base of the hill and spread quickly to a grass and moss-covered outcropping of rock.
Three engines, two water tenders and several command vehicles went to the scene.
“Town Fire sent us an officer and staffed up an engine in case we needed it. Thankfully, we didn’t,” Marler said.
Contact Journal of the San Juans Reporter James Krall at jkrall@sanjuanjournal.com or 360-378-5696.Comment on this story.
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