FOURTH OF JULY: Fire danger high
As mentioned in our holiday lineup, firefighters have been busy. This morning we received two reader reports – first from Rebecca:
Darwin and I were out early to monitor the Cooper’s Hawks nest in Fauntleroy Park and came upon a fire in the base of a large Douglas Fir tree. We called 911, and firefighters from Station 37 quickly arrived to put out the fire. Initially, they brought in two extinguishers, but detected several hot spots in the trunk, so hauled in nearly 1100 ft of firehose from their rig parked at the southernmost entrance to the park.
We are so thankful for their service. Station 37 rocks! A good reminder to not only stay safe on this Independence Day, but to remain vigilant, and alert to your surroundings. A fire in any one of our parks would be truly devastating.
Whether fireworks were suspected or something else, we don’t know – we were away from the desk at the time of the callout. But the fire that Sky emailed about was definitely fireworks-related, one of the calls we heard dispatched late last night:
Last night around 10:30, we witnessed a group of teenagers aiming fireworks at one another in the street at 11th Ave SW and Austin. Initially I was concerned about the potential for then to injure themselves, but when their fireworks caught the grass on fire next to the home of our elderly neighbors I realized how easily we could see a house fire this week.
My wife and another neighbor used our fire extinguisher to put out the fire while I was on the phone with emergency services.
At the end of the block, Riverview Playfield is a hotspot every year for amateur fireworks. We need a police presence there to deter more of these same problems tonight.
The wind is supposed to pick up a bit later today, so this isn’t just about fireworks safety – be careful with grilling, outdoor fire pits, etc.
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