Crews Contain 4 Forest Fires in Washington

FORKS, Wash. —  State and private firefighters have contained four blazes that were whipped out of control by high winds and charred 1,000 acres of the west side of the Olympic Peninsula, but federal crews continued Sunday to battle two nearby fires.

Ron DeHart of the U. S. Forest Service said that 40 firefighters were assigned Sunday to fight a fire on Olympic National Forest land in the Grapple area, about eight miles southeast of Lake Quinault. The lake is at the southwest corner of Olympic National Park.

DeHart said that 400 federal firefighters were working on the Pistol Grip fire, actually two out-of-control “slash burns” on 550 acres near the town of Sappho, about 12 miles north of Forks and about 50 miles northwest of Lake Quinault.

Slash is the brush, stumps and other waste left behind from logging. It usually is burned to clear an area for replanting.

Favorable weather allowed extensive slash burning on the peninsula until late last week, when dry weather and winds sent a half-dozen burns out of control.

Although some residences were threatened for a time, authorities reported no injuries or structure damage from the fires.