YAKIMA, Wash.- Fire season is raging across most of the state, but a trail through Yakima and surrounding cities seems to be a hot spot for brush fires. Since June 1, crews have fought at least eight fires along the Yakima Greenway.
The eight fires include a string of four days with four different fires.
While the high temperatures and dry brush don’t help the effort, the Greenway Foundation says most fires are human caused.
“I’ll say even 85 or 90% are human caused,” said Yakima Greenway Foundation‘s Executive Director Kellie Connaughton.
“That can mean anywhere from an unattended campfire to arson,” says Connaughton. “We’ve also had some fires that have been set or started because of smoking. Someone throwing a lit cigarette out the window.”
While some fires have been caused by equipment or other factors, the Greenway’s environment also plays a hand into high fire numbers.
“We have certain areas where there’s four feet of wood chips that there may have been a fire year ago and because it’s so deep, it continues to smolder and then every once in a while, it will reignite itself,” says Connaughton.
The reignited fires could have been continually burning for months. Some areas of the Greenway is built on what used to be a dumping ground for municipal waste and wood products.
The perpetual fires have some that use the trail on edge. One walker tells me she’s hesitant to use the Greenway at certain times of the year.
“If I know there’s a likelihood of recent fires, I will usually just go somewhere else,” said Valerie Brookshire, who walks the trail carefully protecting her health and her children’s.
“The fires out there make it hard for people like me who are asthmatic because it ruins the air quality,” said Brookshire. “Certain trails of the main path are also unusable when you have smaller kids because it’s difficult to navigate the charred spots.”
Connaughton and the Foundation are aware of the safety concerns fires can bring. The Executive Director tells me she will listen to information from the Yakima Fire Department to make decisions that will keep walkers safe.
“Safety is our number one concern always,” said Connaughton. “If we feel we need to close the trail for a period of time until things are determined to be safe, then we’ll do it. That’s the bottom line.”
Employees for the Yakima Greenway Foundation take to the trail most days to remove factors that can lead to fires. Those factors can include piles of wood chips and brush, but, when necessary, campers along the trail.
“Our small maintenance crew does the best job they can in trying to remove unwanted camping between the river and the pathway,” said Connaughton. “We work extremely closely with the Yakima city code enforcement as well as Yakima County code enforcement to try and help people find safer places to live and where they can go get services.”
The Greenway Foundation adds that the public is crucial to protecting and limiting fires on the pathway. As always, if you see something suspicious, say something and remain fire wise at all times.
