KLAHANIE, Wash. — Fire Marshals are investigating whether transient campers set a fire which started in a remote field and spread quickly over four acres toward dozens of homes in the Klahanie neighborhood near Sammamish.
Eastside Deputy Fire Chief Michael Boyle told KIRO 7 it took 50 firefighters, eleven trucks, and 300 feet of fire hose to contain the flames, which spread in deep peat moss in a dry wooded area.
Neighbor Jason Ritchie said he followed the first signs of smoke to the source of the flames, which he said appeared to come from a hidden campsite.
“There were camping chairs and coolers and tents and essentially water bottles all over the place in the boggy area back there, and it was all on fire." Ritchie said.
“It was scary, it happened within 5 or 10 minutes of nothing, to it was so thick you couldn't see through the backyard."
Deputy Chief Boyle told KIRO 7 the fire began about 100 yards away from the closest fire hydrant. Wildland fire crews and trucks were brought in from as far away as Duvall.
“We get a little rain shower and then people kind of let their guard down,” Boyle said. “That's the wrong thing to do because obviously the risk still exists."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.