Wildfire now close to home: 29 acres burn near Yelm

Firefighters responded to a wildfire near Vail Road in Yelm on Sunday, July 4.

The S.E. Thurston County Fire Authority reported that the wildfire had burned approximately 29 acres. “Could have been much worse,” according to the Authority’s Facebook page.  The fire department has yet to confirm the cause of the fire nor the full extent of the damage.

In a separate incident, the S.E Thurston Fire Authority also confirmed another fire on Sunday. The crew quickly put out a slow-moving brush fire less than five miles away, just off of Tareyton Lane SE in Yelm.

Several other wildfires continue to spread rapidly across central and eastern Washington as a result of the dry weather.

The news came after Thurston County issued an emergency ban on the discharge of consumer fireworks. The decision to issue an emergency ban came after consultation with the Thurston County Fire Marshal and the Thurston County Director of Emergency Services.

Upon review, they were able to determine that the discharge of consumer fireworks might impose a fire hazard given the current weather conditions. The Fire Marshall explained that a large amount of growth and vegetation which sprung from early June had become extremely dry because of the heatwave. The Marshall noted that dry vegetation is one of the most dangerous fuel sources.

The Thurston County issued a notice reminding everyone that, “more fires are reported on the Fourth of July than any other day of the year.”