LAKEWOOD — A wildfire that burned 37 acres near Lakewood in June has been attributed to a smoldering campfire.
The state Department of Natural Resources recently closed its investigation, said Tom Smith, a fire operations forester with the Sedro-Woolley office. No suspects were identified.
The June 12 fire didn’t appear to be intentionally set, Smith said. It apparently spread from a campfire where people were partying. There were various beer bottles and cans nearby.
The fire was reported about 4:30 p.m. off Happy Hollow Road, east of Warm Beach and north of Lake Goodwin, in the Silvana fire district.
The fire happened around the same time that high schools and colleges let out for summer.
The area affected had been clear-cut. It had been replanted earlier in 2014 and was growing Douglas fir, Smith said. The tiny trees were destroyed. A damage estimate wasn’t available. No homes caught fire.
The access road was locked with a chain that apparently had been snipped before the party, Smith said.
Dry weather in the days before combined with windy conditions contributed to the fire’s size and the amount of smoke produced, Smith said.
“It slowly spread for a little awhile and it wasn’t until later in the day and the winds picked up and really caused it to spread quickly,” he said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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