Busy Fourth for emergency workers, no serious injuries

Pops, booms, whistles and sirens rattled the night air July Fourth.

“July Fourth was an extremely busy 24 hours for Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue,” said Theresa MacLennan, CKFR spokeswoman. “Thankfully, none of the fires resulted in injuries.”

MacLennan said the calls included 11 medical; two motor vehicle crashes; 19 brush or wildland fires; two investigations for the smell of smoke; three alarm activations; one law enforcement assist; one hazardous spill and one call to a brush fire within the city of Bremerton which was canceled on the way to the incident.

“In total, CKFR responded to roughly double our daily call volume with 40 calls keeping crews busy,” she said.

Harrison Medical Center saw six fireworks-related injuries over the Fourth of July weekend, according to Darcy Himes, communications coordinator.

“There were six injuries due to fireworks,” she said. “Five for injuries to the hands or face from hand-held fireworks and one due to ashes in the eyes.”

Bremerton Fire Department also was busy and responded to about twice as many calls as usual for a Saturday night, according to Battalion Chief Ron McKiernan.

BFD responded to 43 calls which included eight fires — one car and seven brush; 27 emergency medical service calls and eight calls where nothing was found.

“It was busy, but there were no serious injuries,” McKiernan said.

While the number of calls that came in was escalated, MacLennan said overall it was a safe holiday, despite the very dry conditions due to the recent lack of rainfall.

“Despite the substantial increase in call volume on July Fourth, CKFR appreciates the attention residents paid to the well-publicized red flag warnings about dry conditions,” MacLennan said. “‘Thank you’ goes to residents for their cooperation in keeping an eye on fireworks, sparks and campfires. The number of brush and wildland fires was kept to a minimum and no fire injuries were reported.”

Contact Central Kitsap Reporter Staff writer Steven DeDual at sdedual@centralkitsapreporter.com or (360) 308-9161.

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