Firefighters keep grass fire from barn, home near Battle Ground

By Andy Matarrese, Columbian environment and transportation reporter

Published: September 8, 2015, 6:49pm

Clark County Fire & RescueFirefighters spray down a grass fire in a field west of Battle Ground on Tuesday afternoon. The fire burned about 5 acres, and no structures were damaged.

A small grass fire scorched 5 acres west of Battle Ground on Tuesday afternoon, and the fire apparently was connected to outdoor burning.

Firefighters knocked it down before it spread to a nearby home and a barn full of hay, Clark County Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Tim Dawdy said, but the fire is a reminder that conditions in the county aren’t yet wet enough to burn safely.

The fire was reported around 3:30 p.m., west of Battle Ground in a field at Northeast 239th Street and 50th Avenue.

Firefighters from CCFR and the Vancouver Fire Department were able to funnel the fire into the field and away from a home and the barn within about 15 minutes, Dawdy said.

“All it did was burn up some grass today, so we feel very fortunate,” he said.

The county fire marshal is investigating the fire, Dawdy said, adding that the investigation likely will include looking at the burn piles and whether the landowner had permits to burn them.

Beyond that, he said fire chiefs wanted to remind people that although the ban has been relaxed to allow campfires, the county’s burn ban for fields or plant debris is still in effect.

“Fire season’s just not over,” he said.

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