‘It is really dry out there, and it’s supposed to get hot again next week’

A quick response by the Lynden Fire Department helped contain most of the damage in a duplex fire Friday morning to one bedroom and a bathroom, but the blaze served as a good reminder of just how dangerously dry conditions are in Whatcom County.

Lynden Fire and North Whatcom Fire and Rescue units responded to a structure fire at 52 Main Place at 11:08 a.m.

“The first in was a Lynden engine, and they did a great job of gaining entry to the structure and getting a quick knockdown,” North Whatcom Division Chief Henry Hollander said. “Because of that, we were able to contain the fire to one bedroom and a bathroom, though there was smoke damage throughout.”

Hollander said fire also made it out a window and ignited a nearby fir tree, “showing just how dry it really is out there.”

It’s so dry, in fact, that the Whatcom County Fire Marshal enacted a burn ban on July 13. That was followed up by North Cascades National Park banning all fires, including campfires on Aug. 1, the Department of Natural Resources banning outdoor burning statewide on Aug. 2 and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife instituting a statewide shooting ban beginning Saturday to help alleviate some of the risk of wildfires.

“It is really dry out there,” Hollander said, “and it’s supposed to get hot again next week.”

There are currently eight wildfires burning in Washington State covering approximately 26,000 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, but Whatcom County — like most of Western Washington — has escaped any large wildfires so far this season.

“The public is doing a great job and is aware of the burn bans,” Hollander said. “The fires we have had have been small, and the people who have been burning haven’t been aware of the ban. But conditions are really dry, and we still have a lot of days left, so everyone’s got to continue to take care.”