Fire near Ridgefield prompts warning from firefighters

A fast-moving grass fire Sunday afternoon south of Ridgefield prompted this warning from firefighters:

Check all of your burn piles from the past month to make sure they are stone cold and not still smoldering.

Although the cause of Sunday’s fire at 22015 N.W. Cornell Drive is officially undetermined pending investigation, a long-smoldering debris pile is suspected to have something to do with it, said Tim Dawdy, spokesman for Clark County Fire & Rescue.

His agency, along with Clark County Fire District 6 and the state Department of Natural Resources, responded to the 2:21 p.m. fire after it was reported to be moving rapidly. They were able to control it in about 15 minutes, with damage limited to grass and brush.

After a cold, rainy April, May turned seasonably warm and is on pace to set a record low for precipitation. Add sunshine and a breeze, and what was assumed to be a dead fire can come alive again, Dawdy said.

Already 2018 is looking to be an epic season for grass fires. The long-term forecast calls for a warm, dry summer, and there have already been a series of grass fires along freeways more typical of July than May.

Camas-Washougal firefighters were called around 4 p.m. to a fire that started on the exterior of a house on J Street in Washougal. That fire damaged the home’s siding and caused some damage to the attic, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian.

Last year was a horrible fire season in the Pacific Northwest, led by the Columbia Gorge fire, caused by a Vancouver teen playing with fireworks, that caused nearly $37 million in monetary damages and firefighting costs.