King County Fire District No. 44, Sept. 4: Fire District 44 is extending the Burn Ban “at least” through Sept. 9 “Brush and wildland fires utilize a lot of fire department resources and can take days to completely extinguish, said Fire Chief Greg Smith.

Fire District 44’s wildland team has been deployed to fires in other jurisdictions in King and Pierce County in the last week.   Chief Greg Smith said, “We won’t open burning until we have had some appreciable rain; it’s just not worth the risk”.

Fire District 44 has an annual burn ban for “yard vegetation open burning” every year, typically lasting July – Labor Day weekend.  The State Department of Natural Resources has placed the Fire Danger at “HIGH” on the West Side; fuel moisture levels are measured to determine Fire Danger.

Monday marks the 43rd day in a row of dry weather in the Puget Sound region — the forecast calls for warm and dry weather at least until the end of the week. The driest streak in the Seattle area is 51 days, in 1951.”

The last rain at Sea-Tic Airport was .04 inches on July 22, marking 43 days and counting. The month of August 2012 has entered the books as the driest August on record.

Recreational Fires utilizing approved fuel and restrictions are not closed.  We ask that everyone please use extreme caution outdoors during this high fire danger period.

For more information please contact Tim Perciful at tperciful@kcfd44.org or 253-508-7273.