Teen With Lighter Blamed for Washington Gass Fire
Source Yakima Herald-Republic, Wash.
SELAH, Wash. -- Authorities say a teenage boy playing with a lighter caused Monday's grass fire that damaged two homes.
Selah police say the 16-year-old Selah boy may face criminal charges even though the fire was an accident.
"There was no criminal intent," said Selah police detective Rich Brumley.
Nevertheless, police have requested charges of first-degree reckless burning, Brumley said.
Monday afternoon's blaze, pushed uphill by winds, damaged two houses on Hillcrest Drive above Wixson Park.
Both houses lost extensive ornamental shrubbery, while one lost a gazebo. On the house next door, the roof will most likely need to be replaced because of damage from several spot fires and firefighting efforts, Chief Jerry Davis said.
He did not have a damage estimate.
The teen playing with a lighter near Wixson Park tried to put the fire out, Davis said, before running to warn nearby residents.
The two damaged homes had a suitable green belt of well-watered grass but no fire break between their shrubs and grassy hill, speckled with patches of cheat grass, Davis said. Nearby homes that did have a fire break -- some 30 feet wide -- were spared.
Davis said the hill has a history of dangerous fires.
Three years ago, a blaze threatened but did not damage any homes, he said. In 1991, a woman in the same neighborhood died after being trapped in her home by a fire caused by children playing with matches, he said.
The grassy areas of the Yakima Valley, especially those on hills, are ripe for wildfires even though it's early in the season and the weather has been rainy and cool, Davis said. It takes little time for grasses to dry out, he added.
"We're in fire season," he said.
In fact, Selah firefighters pulled a little double duty Monday. At the same time as Monday's Wixson Park fire, crews were just mopping up a 3-acre grass fire on Rodman Road about 8 miles north of town.
Crews from several neighboring jurisdictions arrived to help.
Copyright 2012 - Yakima Herald-Republic, Wash.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
