Fourth Of July Fires Add Up!

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By Holly Zuluaga

Summary

Fireworks are blamed for the two biggest fires in Benton County this weekend. Firefighters say it's frustrating because it could be avoided.

Story Published: Jul 6, 2009 at 5:55 PM PST

BENTON COUNTY--Fireworks are blamed for the two biggest fires in Benton County this weekend.

Firefighters say it's frustrating because it could be avoided.

As soon as the fireworks were lit, it was call after call for fire departments in Benton County.

"We were a fire away from a disaster in our community the other night," Kennewick Fire Chief Mark Yaden said.

In Benton County alone there were about 15 fires.

Richland and West Richland had the most, with five each.

Fireworks are legal in both cities.

Illegal aerial fires are blamed for some of the fires.

All the districts worked together, battling the blazes like the one in Meadow Hills along little badger.

Firefighters say that fire was the tipping point.

Different agencies helped out, and if the fire had spread to homes, they would have been in trouble.

"Resources would have had to come from Yakima, Grant County, that's where you'll see disasters," Chief Mark Yaden said.

Firefighters tell me those fires add up.

I pulled the numbers and found the 4th of July cost all five agencies more than $7,000.

The majority of the money spent on that Meadow Hills fire and another one on 397 and Olympia.

So far both are blamed on fireworks.

"When you deplete your communities resources down for fire services like they did the other night on the 4th, there's no ambulance to respond to someone who is having a heart attack," Chief Mark Yaden.

Firefighters tell me the number of fires has gone down since Kennewick banned fireworks in the early 90's, but people still set them off.

"We're watching the firefighters down there battling that as well as residents and there's still fireworks going off around us," Chief Mark Yaden.

Firefighters say we're not out of the woods.

They're worried about the fireworks that haven't been set off yet, which could still put us back in the line of fire.