After a massive brush fire broke out in the early afternoon hours of July 6 near the 8600 block of 336 Street South in Roy, multiple departments combined resources to form a “unified command” to fight the blaze.
After initially calling for evacuations in the area, officials allowed residents to return later in the afternoon as the blaze was brought under control.
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was the first to the scene, according to South Pierce Fire Chief Todd Wernet. He said there coincidentally were DNR crews “in the area” and immediately attacked the fire after hearing it reported by dispatchers.
After establishing command, DNR was eventually joined by South Pierce Fire and Rescue to form a unified command. Graham Fire and Rescue, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, JBLM resources and the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management also assisted in fighting the brush fire.
Wernet told the Nisqually Valley News in an interview on July 7 that witnesses reportedly heard a boom and saw several people running away. He added that he’ll leave it to investigators to determine the cause of the fire.
The fire itself spread approximately 7 acres between 89th Avenue South and 78th Avenue South on 336 Street South, leading to South Pierce Fire and Rescue issuing a level three evacuation for all residents within a 1-mile radius of the fire.
South Pierce Fire and Rescue later lifted all evacuation orders for the fire near Roy at 5:20 p.m. on July 6, according to Pierce County Department of Emergency Management.
“It’s still a very dangerous time with the dry weather,” Wernet said. “The chances of brush fires are still incredibly high, so people need to stop shooting off illegal fireworks. There isn’t going to be rain for a while, and the area is very dry. There’s a county-wide burn ban that’s been going on since the middle of June, yet there’s still been multiple brush fires due to these activities.”
As of 12:30 p.m. on July 7, DNR crews were still working in the area of the fire, according to Wernet. He added that crews were “mopping up” hot spots and hand crews were digging up stumps.
The fire chief believed efforts would be concluded “by the end of the day” on July 7.
“SPFR, DNR, & Graham Fire did a great job working together quickly to evacuate residents in the fires path. Pierce County Sheriff’s Department were fantastic in conjunction with (the) Department of Emergency Management communicating evacuation zones,” South Pierce Fire and Rescue shared to its Facebook page on July 6. “Fireworks and carelessness continue to be the (cause) of countless brush fires in the county.”
