Evacuation notice reminds us of the need to think about fire safety

Don’t let a wet spring fool you. A day after the year’s hottest day so far in the region, Grant County citizens got a reminder of what that can mean when the sheriff’s office issued a Level 2, then Level 3 Evacuation notice Monday afternoon.

People in the area east of Soap Lake were told to be ready to go should it come to that, then were told to leave immediately. Responding firefighters sent out the call countywide for help, at least twice.

Remember a few summers ago when a fire that started over a half-hour’s drive away eventually put west Coulee Dam on notice, as well as the hospital? It took about 10 hours to reach us, but steady winds burned a lot of ground in between and residents watched the steep hillside burn right down to city hall, where firefighters stopped it.

If you thought a wet, cool spring might mean a reprieve for this fire season, let’s hope you were right, but don’t count on it. If we don’t have a scorcher of a summer, we might get that reprieve. If we get too many hot days that dry out all the extra plant growth, it could just make more fuel on the ground for a long late summer and fall.

For the coming holiday, let’s enjoy our Independence Day, but be extremely careful with anything that burns.

Insider tip: Fireworks off the top of the dam, sponsored by STCU, should be particularly good this Fourth of July, and they’re safe.

Scott Hunter

Editor and publisher