CLARK COUNTY, Wash — Fire officials are looking to identify two men and two women who were seen by witnesses in the area of the Nakia Creek Fire around the time it started. Officials said they believe the people may have been setting off fireworks.
The fire, located about nine miles northeast of Camas in Clark County, has burned around 1,800 acres. It started Oct. 9 at around 3:45 p.m. Officials have said the fire was human-caused since there was no lightning in the area at the time.
In a video released by investigators, taken around 15 minutes before the fire started, a white or light-colored Subaru can be seen parked in a clearing of trees. In the video, smoke can be seen coming up, and officials said they believe the two men and two women seen by witnesses in the area were connected with the vehicle and were possibly shooting off fireworks.
"Two males, two females," said Clark County Sheriff's Office deputy Chris Skidmore. "And as the fire marshal described it, they are possibly shooting pyrotechnic devices. [That] was what the person who was taking that video of the scene thought."
Officials are looking to identify the two men and two women seen by witnesses. Anyone with information about the vehicle or the four people is asked to contact the Clark County Fire Marshal's Office at 564-397-3320.
There was good news on the firefighting front Tuesday. Natalie Weber, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Forestry said they're bringing in "an estimated 140 extra resources," including more firefighters and aircrafts. There are 380 personnel currently working the fire and Weber said recent weather conditions have helped.
"It is a little bit foggy in the morning [and] we're having relatively high humidity recoveries overnight, which is which is really helpful to the fight behavior we are seeing," Weber said.
Better mapping put the fire at just under 1,800 acres and evacuation zones are shrinking.
When the fire blew up Sunday, Level 3 (Go Now) evacuations were ordered for more than 3,000 people. By Monday night, those orders were reduced to just 550 people.
With favorable weather conditions and extra hands on deck to battle this blaze, fire officials are feeling optimistic.
"I think we'll be in pretty good shape," said Matt Howard with the Oregon Department of Forestry. "I expect our containment numbers to go up and operations have a really good plan to secure this fire in the coming days."