Jeff Ripley of Benton County Fire District 1. We usually don't see this until late June or July. Thornhill said the lack of any major fires in the past three to five years and this year's substantial growth have added to an already hefty accumulation of dead, dry vegetation. The region Thornhill's district covers is in the Burbank-Wallula area, where he says the majority of fires are started when trains brake too hard or throttle their engines, shooting sparks into open fields. Ripley said fires in his jurisdiction are most often started by people, whether it's a cigarette butt tossed into dry weeds or when a car turns around on a dirt road too quickly.
Summer also means more people spending time outside or lighting fireworks.
This area is very receptive to fires. When burning, make sure you have plenty of cleared space and tools just in case. Urban growth is another major issue because more homes are being built on the outskirts of cities where houses border empty fields and the dry vegetation that so worries firefighters. He recommended home owners keep vegetation trimmed down, especially any that surrounds buildings, and maintain a 20-foot green belt to slow fire. Thornhill said members of his department contact residents they believe live in at-risk areas and advise them to build fire lines, keep grasses and bushes low and trimmed, maintain dirt roads and use common sense.