Days of triple-digit heat on top of dry weather have left Puget Sound vulnerable to wildfires this holiday weekend.
“This year seems unusual in the dry weather we've had leading up to, this stretch of long, dry weather, extreme heat, record-setting heat is super unusual, and the fact that we've already had several days of significant fires as early as we did in the spring,” Captain Joe Root of the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority said. “All those things together set this up to be a uniquely challenging holiday weekend."
A statewide burn ban is now in place to reduce the chance of a fire.
Wood fires and charcoal grills are not allowed in any state park in Washington. Fireworks are also banned.
The threat of wildfires has emergency teams working to keep the region safe because it doesn’t take much for a blaze to begin.
Residents in Milton learned that lesson Saturday as crews put out a fire that started along I-5 and moved to within a few feet of their property.
“Apparently it started down by the freeway. That’s what the fire guys say, then it just pushed up the hill…the trees out there were all fully engulfed, it was moving pretty good,” resident Neal said.