June 13, 2002 * 02-41-01

(NORTH KITSAP) -- Hot weather combined with other dangerous practices to spark at least two brush fires in North Kitsap on Thursday.

North Kitsap Fire & Rescue (NKF&R) crews, responding to a burning complaint at Bear Berry Road near Twin Spits Road in Hansville shortly after 2:00pm, found a homeowner using a garden hose in an attempt to extinguish flames in a 50 x 100 foot blackened area. The man told crews that he'd been burning yard debris earlier in the day and that, although the fire had spread significantly while he'd been in the house for lunch, he felt he now had it under control. Firefighters from two stations worked in the 85-degree heat digging through the charred dirt and using nearly 3,000 gallons of water to extinguish the blaze and prevent its spread further into heavy brush.

Additional NKF&R crews were dispatched to downtown Suquamish around 2:30pm after a bottle-rocket sparked a blaze when it landed in brush on a 30' cliff near tribal fireworks stands at "the Slab." Bystanders had made an unsuccessful attempt to snuff the fire with dirt; when firefighters arrived, flames were climbing 3 feet into the air and had scorched a 6 x 8 foot area. Given its location, the fire was difficult to reach and crews brought the blaze under control from the beach -- by driving a small four-wheel-drive brush fire engine to a position below the fire.