Fireworks blamed for apartment complex fire in Kennewick. It was 1 of dozens of Tri-Cities fires

An illegal bottle rocket started a fire that threatened to burn down a Kennewick apartment complex.

The bottle rocket landed on the wood shingles of the complex at 6205 W. Albany Court and ignited the blaze.

If a fire crew hadn’t been nearby, the four families living there could have been without a home, said Kennewick Fire Chief Chad Michael.

Firefighters arrived shortly after the flames were spotted and were able to extinguish it, before it could do much damage.

“We were fortunate that we had a crew down the road,” Michael said.

It was one of dozens of calls Tri-Cities firefighters responded to over the Fourth of July weekend. Many started by exploding fireworks.

Fireworks are banned in Kennewick and Franklin County, and there are restrictions on the type of fireworks available in Pasco, Benton County and Richland.

Fireworks also started a shed fire at 2505 S. Johnson St. in Kennewick. Firefighters were able to keep flames from spreading.

Michael said firefighters were stretched thin.

“I made sure we had an additional crew on because of the extreme fire danger,” he said. “We had several small natural cover fires.”

Busy weekend

Richland firefighters responded to a two-alarm blaze that damaged a home at 214 Jadwin Avenue.

The fire department has not released details about what started the dramatic fire on the second level of the home shortly before 3:20 p.m. Monday.

There were reports that several people were in the house at the time the fire started but were able to get outside.

Benton County Fire District 1 also spent much of Fourth of July responding to fire and medical calls. They went to a total of 51 fire calls between 6 p.m. on July 4 and 8 a.m. on July 5.

Many of them were sparked by people setting off fireworks, especially in fields of dry grass primed to catch fire after days of above 100 degree temperatures.

The biggest wildland fire started in Badger Canyon near Webber Road.

They also had a large shed on Game Farm Road catch on fire at 10:22 p.m. on July 4. While no one was hurt, Benton County Fire District 1, said the shed and building were destroyed.

At the peak of the fire, they had 35 firefighters at the scene.

The high temperatures made fighting the fires difficult since firefighters would need to cycle off the fire more often to avoid heat exhaustion.

In Franklin County, firefighters were called to a large haystack fire at the end of Elm Road. Franklin County fire districts 3 and 5 are monitoring the blaze.

The flames and smoke can be seen from Highway 395 and Juniper Dunes.

Continued danger

Extreme temperatures sucked the moisture out of the grass and sagebrush that dominate many open areas in Benton and Franklin County. This has left the area primed for large grass fires.

The Benton County fire marshal said the fire danger is extreme for the area, meaning a fire can get out control quickly and any start has the potential to get very large.

Michael pointed out there are large fires burning near Wenatchee and Cheney, and one could easily start in the Tri-Cities area.

They are also eyeing possible storms that would bring lightning into the area.

He encouraged people to partner with each other and the fire departments to prevent any fires from starting.

This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 12:55 PM.