Fire officials say they believe fewer locals lit off their own fireworks over the hot, windy Fourth of July holiday, but this year saw more damaging fires than last year.
Clark County residents lodged 1,067 fireworks complaints while fireworks were on sale June 28 through Monday, according to 911 logs. Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli said 38 fireworks citations were issued, down from 46 last year.
“Our deputy fire marshals noticed a reduction,” Scarpelli said. “I think people heeded to our pleas of not using consumer fireworks.”
Fire officials remained busy, however, putting out blazes at houses, along roadways, at schools and near businesses.
A duplex, a house and two mobile homes were damaged in blazes over the weekend, though not all were due to fireworks. A barbecue was blamed for a fire at a house that caused an estimated $100,000 in damage Saturday at 2407 E. Mill Plain Blvd. in Vancouver. A fire Saturday destroyed two mobile homes at 6912 N.E. 131st Ave. Though one of the displaced residents said he believed he saw fireworks launched before the fire started, the Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating. Fireworks sparked a fire early Sunday that caused an estimated $400,000 in damage to a two-story duplex at 1601 S.E. 146th Court in east Vancouver.
Last year, the county had one fireworks-related house fire on July 4.
In Vancouver, fireworks also destroyed two vehicles, damaged another vehicle, and burned some siding and roof on two houses — doing an estimated $46,000 in damage.
Vegetation fires
Firefighters were dispatched to 281 bark dust fires and 67 grass or brush fires, one of which scorched an estimated 10 acres of land near Andresen Road and Northeast 78th Street.
Eighteen-year-old Vadym Shevchenko was arrested on suspicion of first-degree reckless burning and appeared in Clark County Superior Court on Monday. Shevchenko told Clark County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Alan Earhart that he used a cigarette lighter to set fire to some white fluff from a tree “to see how fast it would burn,” documents filed in Superior Court said. The wind blew the material into nearby dry grass, catching the grass on fire, court documents said.
Shevchenko and his friend, Andrey Sviridov, tried in vain to stomp out the fire, documents said. They got scared and rode away on their bicycles, stopping on 78th Street when confronted by witnesses, documents said.
Firefighters had trouble containing the growing fire, which was difficult to access. The state Department of Natural Resources brought in a pair of helicopters that dumped water on the flames.
“If not for the efforts of the fire crews, it’s likely the fire would have spread to nearby homes, churches and businesses,” court documents said.
Earhart said he found a cigarette lighter in the pocket of Shevchenko’s shorts and one in his backpack. Sviridov said he did not light anything on fire, court documents said.
Shevchenko was granted supervised released from jail and appointed an attorney. He’s scheduled to return to court on Friday morning.
A grass fire below the fireworks display briefly paused the fireworks show at Fort Vancouver National Site Saturday night. The fire truck stationed near the launch pad sprayed down the blaze.
Cara Cantonwine, director of programs for Fort Vancouver, said that it is pretty common to have small fires at the launch site.
Scarpelli said the grass fire was larger than normal this year. The incident will not dissuade the nonprofit from holding next year’s fireworks at the grassy field. Several years ago, the fireworks were launched off of a barge in the Columbia River.
“Of course, safety is first on our minds for our attendees,” Cantonwine said. “We’ll review all the safety parameters with fire marshal’s office and pyro technicians. … We will make sure that we are doing everything that is up to safety standards and keep everything great for next year.”
Runaway pets
The Humane Society for Southwest Washington saw an uptick in the number of animals spooked by fireworks. Between June 28 and July 5, the shelter received 50 stray dogs and 35 stray cats. Sunday was busy; the shelter not only took in 20 of those stray dogs, but also adopted out a lot of animals. So far, 20 dogs have been reunited with their owners. Spokeswoman Denise Barr wasn’t sure how many cats had been reclaimed.
“Cats go into hiding, so that’s more tricky,” she said.
Shelter staff search Craigslist and Facebook for missing-animal posts to determine who owns the animals, as well as scan any microchips on the strays. Microchips provide the best chance of an owner being reunited with its pet, Barr said.
