by Sequim Gazette staff

Clallam County Fire District 3 responded to two brush fires May 14, the largest of which covered close to two acres.

Firefighters received a call for a logging processor fire spreading to brush and logging debris at 6:40 p.m. in the area of 1300 S. Bagley Creek Road. Heavy black smoke was reported to 9-1-1 in an active logging area and the first arriving units found an excavator fully consumed by fire and a brush fire slowly moving up a steep hill, said Public Information Officer Patrick Young.

A light breeze pushed the fire southeast toward Bagley Creek Road and with the help of another excavator and a bulldozer on scene, a fire line was cut to control the fire, he said.

No homes or other structures were threatened by the remote fire.

Fire crews extinguished the excavator fire and began the slow process of climbing the hill and extinguishing the brush fire, using water shuttled to the remote area by water tenders, he said.

With 10 pieces of equipment and 16 personnel on scene, the fire was contained to fewer than two acres of logging debris, Young said.

No injuries were reported and the fire was turned over to Washington Department of Natural Resources firefighters for final control of hot-spots.

Earlier in the day, at 10:13 a.m., Fire District 3 responded to a small brush fire in the county campground at the Dungeness Recreation Area caused by a portable generator, Young said.

Park staff and bystanders were able to extinguish the 4-by-6 fire and keep it from spreading. One engine with four firefighters was assigned to mop up this fire.