With hot and dry conditions over the Fourth of July weekend, firefighters responded to two confirmed fireworks-related fires in the Sequim area.

“We got off pretty easy,” said Assistant Chief Roger Moeder with Clallam County Fire District 3.

Of the two, the largest was a 50-foot by 50-foot grass fire, said acting District 3 Fire Chief Ben Andrews.

On July 3, firefighters and medics responded to 23 calls, 29 on July 4 and 18 on July 5, with 20 calls from 5 p.m.-2 a.m. July 4-5. A typical call load in the summer is 18.4 calls per day for the fire department, Moeder said.

He reports that of the Fourth of July weekend incidents, five were brush/grass fires, one was a bird in a power line, a fire in an abandoned boat, three incidents of burning yard debris and seven recreational fires despite burn bans in Clallam County, the City of Sequim and on state lands.

Moeder said six of the seven recreational fires were reported on the Fourth of July.

Andrews said one large part in the reduced fireworks-related damage this year was that property owners were aggressive in keeping hoses on incidents until firefighters arrived.

Despite the low incident total, fire officials were ready for much more.

Andrews said the fire department typically staffs eight at a time but they brought in three additional off-duty firefighters for July 3-4 for the 48 hours.

“What’s strange is that we either have 30 calls in six hours or we have three,” he said. “We were preparing for the worst and praying for the best.”

Andrews said there weren’t any known reported fireworks injuries in Sequim either.

A week prior to the Fourth of July weekend, the phone lines were burning up about the dry conditions and fireworks concerns, Moeder said.

“People weren’t understanding that the burn ban doesn’t include fireworks,” he said.

In Clallam County and the City of Sequim, fireworks are allowed to be shot off for seven days at varying times through July 5.

Moeder said there haven’t been any conversations to further restrictions on when fireworks can be shot off but the decisions must go through local legislative leaders like the Clallam County commissioners and Sequim City councilors.

Editor’s note: According to information provided by PenCom, between June 30 and 1 a.m. July 5, there were 39 fireworks violations reported with Sequim addresses. — MD