[1]Firefighters with DNR could see a smoke column from a Toledo fire on Herriford Road all the way in Castle Rock and responded to assist. / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Fire District 2.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Firefighters were called about 4:30 a.m. today when flames were seen on a long residential driveway in Adna.
They were into the trees and crawling up some stumps, burning an area of about 100 feet by 50 feet, according to Lewis County Fire District 6.
The fire on the 600 block of Brockway Road is under investigation by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Firefighter Mike Goodwillie said.
Personnel from Lewis County Fire District 5 assisted, he said.
Goodwillie said there were a couple of minor injuries from falls, from working to extinguish the fire on the steep bank in the dark.
Meanwhile, a fire yesterday afternoon that burned as many as four acres of a field of grain south of Toledo appeared to have ignited from farm equipment working on the property at the time.
Crews from Toledo, Winlock, and Vader as well as two brush units with the state Department of Natural Resources which saw the smoke column from Castle Rock encountered a wind-driven fire but brought it under control within a half hour after their arrival, according to Lewis County Fire District 2.
It was reported about 4:30 p.m. at the 100 block of Herriford Road, according to Chief Grant Wiltbank.
And DNR reported this morning the large forest fire five miles southwest of Pe Ell is covering 117 acres but is 30 percent contained.
The blaze is burning in recently harvested timber, slash and mature timber on property owned by Rayonier. More than 200 individuals have been battling it.
The plan for today was to build and complete containment lines, according to DNR spokesperson Nick Cronquist.
The Fork Peak fire reported on Thursday evening is in Pacific County, at the Lewis County line. Its cause remains under investigation, according to Cronquist.
“The 2014 fire season is not over,” Cronquist stated in a morning memo. “With temperatures remaining high and no significant weather in the forecast, be mindful of areas around your home with potential of fire risk.”
In the Salkum area, the fire chief has this message for the public today: “The burn ban is still on,” Lewis County Fire District 8 Chief Duran McDaniel said.
McDaniel said he and other fire chiefs continue to get late night calls for bon fires not in approved receptacles.
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For background, see ” ‘Really big’ wildfire spreading southwest of Pe Ell” from Friday Sept. 12, 2014 at 9:15 p.m., here [2]
[3]The Fork Peak fire in eastern Pacific County is 30 percent contained this morning. / Courtesy photo by Mary Huels, DNR
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[4]A helicopter drops water on the Fork Peak Fire southwest of Pe Ell. / Courtesy photo by Mary Huels, DNR