Covington debris fire contained
August 13, 2008 · 8:52 AM
A wood-debris fire continued to burn Friday at a Covington wood recycling facility, just east of Kent.
Fire officials, who were monitoring the fire, said they hoped the fire would burn out by Sunday, according to a Kent Fire Department media release.
Firefighters extinguished a large wood debris pile that caught fire on Aug. 5. A smaller pile of ground-up material continued to burn.
Once the pile does burn down sufficiently, fire crews planned to move in with large diameter hose lines and a track-hoe to extinguish the remaining fire.
Fire officials decided against drenching the smoldering fire, as the large amount of water needed to put out the fire would cause runoff that would end up in Jenkins Creek and other waterways.
Fire officials said they were aware of the increased air pollution being produced by the smoldering pile of material, but did not want to increase the danger to the community and environment by acting hastily, according to the media release.
Firefighters from Kent, Maple Valley and King County Fire District 44 responded to the fire that broke out at about 10:30 p.m. Aug. 5 at Rainier Wood Recyclers near Highway 18 and Covington-Sawyer Road.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
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