Local

Officials calling as many as 15 wildfires in Mason County 'suspicious'

Mason County has been hit by fire after fire in a matter of days and now as many as 15 are being called suspicious. Mason County Sheriff Casey Salisbury told KIRO 7 he is calling for a multi-agency investigation to determine if the county is dealing with an arsonist.

“We don’t know at this point,” Salisbury said. “We’re putting together a task force of all the different fire agencies... local, federal and state fire agencies.”

The largest blaze burned 62 acres. Weather conditions make wildfires extremely dangerous and an unseasonably dry, early summer combined with high temperatures and wind has caused fires to spread rapidly.

“We’d normally have quarter acre to half acre fires,” said Department of Natural Resources Assistant Fire Unit Manager Matt Caldwell. “We’re seeing upwards of 10 acres-plus on a few of our fires. Usually, this kind of stuff we’d see in mid-August."

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