By Pepper Fisher

JOYCE – Fire crews worked together Thursday morning to battle a wildfire on DNR land near Joyce.

Clallam 2 Fire Rescue Chief Jake Patterson says they got the call to assist from Clallam 4 about 8:50am. He says a column of smoke was visible coming from a fire burning in a clear-cut with heavy slash around a logging landing site.

The initial estimate was the fire was between 1-2 acres in size.  Loggers on site reported not seeing anybody leaving the area.

Firefighters from Fire District #4 and Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue deployed hose lines from their brush engines to work on containment until state DNR personnel arrived and began assuming responsibility for fire operations.

They requested additional DNR resources, including helicopter support. Once those resources arrived at the scene, Clallam 2 units were released from the fire at about 11:45. By that time, a DNR helicopter had started performing water drops to keep the fire contained.

We spoke with Chief Patterson around noon Thursday.

“We’d like to let everybody know that you’re going to see smoke in the area. A column, especially from Highway 112. But the DNR is managing it. They’ve got a helicopter working the fire right now, as well as several hand crews and engines, so it is contained at this point.”

(Photos by Jay Cline)