About a Dozen Cotton Fluff Fires Under Investigation

Last Updated on Friday, 01 July 2016 11:28

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                              Lt.  Rudy Fisher, Incident commander

Tuesday, May 03, 2016

 

ABOUT A DOZEN COTTON FLUFF FIRES UNDER INVESTIGATION

 Fire came close to at least five homes on College Hill

          PULLMAN-Fire officials said a series of at least a dozen cotton fluff fires in a College Hill neighborhood Tuesday night were maliciously set and the Hillside neighborhood was lucky there were no structures damaged.

 

          Pullman firefighters were dispatched around 10:20 pm to a report of several fires burning along the yards in the 1200 block of Hillside Drive.  Firefighters doused several of the fires and were aided by neighbors armed with garden hoses.   Some of fires from the fluff of the Cottonwood trees came within a couple of feet of at least five houses.

 

          The fires were found in a variety of locations---from backyards to front yards-which led officials to determine that the fires were suspicious in nature.  Normal fluff burns are continuous but that was not the case in these fires.

 

          Fire chief Mike Heston will have members of the fire marshal's office investigate the scene in daylight.   There was no structure damage to any of the homes but there was some minor damage to some patio furniture.

 

          Heston pointed that the cotton fluff is highly combustible.  If the fires Tuesday night had made contact with a flammable liquid or even a juniper bush next to a home, there could have been significant damage.  He urged residents to be extremely careful around the fluff including how one extinguishes a cigarette.

 

--PFD-

 

(Written by Glenn Johnson, PFD/PIO)