Dunes catch fire in Ocean Shores on the Fourth

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 8, 2025

At 7:08 p.m. on Friday, July 4, the Ocean Shores Fire Department was dispatched to a fire in the dunes between the Marine View Drive Southwest beach approach and Butter Clam Street Southwest.

Initial reports included visible smoke and flames with witnesses attempting to extinguish the fire themselves.

From the moment of dispatch, the Ocean Shores Fire Department response was met with several challenges, including conflicting reports of the location, confusion over the number of active fires in the area and ultimately the terrain.

During the Ocean Shores Fire Department Fourth of July operations period, they have several brush rigs — vehicles that are able to access the beach and dunes that have pumps and water tanks to fight fires — and transport vehicles to carry additional manpower.

The first arriving apparatus to the dune fire was Brush 73, which at the time of dispatch was approximately 2.5 miles away from the scene. It arrived near the location of the fire at about 7:21 p.m. It unfortunately got stuck in the extremely soft sand near the dunes and so firefighters hiked in by foot and started a fire attack with bladder bags, portable backpacks with about five gallons of water and a hand-pump nozzle.

The fire was initially estimated to be about the size of a football field with flames as high as 20 feet.

The next arriving apparatus was Brush 71, which accessed the fire by using the Butter Clam Street access trail and then driving directly into the dunes.

B71 was only about a mile from the fire when first dispatched, but on the way to responding it encountered a small fire at Ocean Shores Boulevard Southwest and Marine View Drive Southwest that was threatening a home. B71 first extinguished that fire before continuing to the dune fire, arriving at 7:29 p.m.

Transport 72 arrived shortly after and parked at the Butter Clam Street trail access parking lot. The firefighters hiked down the trail and accessed the fire from “the black” — the area of vegetation that has already been burned. Utility 71, a multi-purpose vehicle that is equipped with a pump, dispatched from Ocean Shores Fire Department headquarters station and accessed the fire using Marine View Drive Southwest. Transport 71 parked on the beach and firefighters hiked into the scene.

“All the rigs had challenges to get to the fire because of its location, and that’s why it went as far as it did. It just took us a long time for us to get to where we needed to be,” said Ocean Shores Fire Captain Cody Sage.

Fire attack was completed by using the pumps on B71 and U71, along with the bladder bags worn by the firefighters. A hoseline was stretched from B73 on the beach so that its much larger water tank could be used as a tender to refill the tanks on the other rigs. Each apparatus had to be refilled 2-3 times.

Due to the size, spread and difficulty of the fire, Ocean Shores Fire Department activated the bulldozer hired for Fourth of July operations. It left the Ocean Shores Fire Department headquarters station at 7:33 p.m. and staged at Butter Clam Street in standby mode.

The bulldozer is able to create a fire line in the vegetation to prevent further spread, but it was not used on this fire as on-sight crews were able make progress with extinguishment. Engine 71 also staged for a time nearby on South Sand Dune Avenue Southwest to protect the urban-wildland interface.

Captain Sage estimates that the firefighting crew achieved initial control of the fire in about 20 minutes. Extinguishment took about an hour.

Transport 71 remained on scene for an additional hour to monitor for hot spots or rekindling.

The cause of the fire was fireworks activity. Fireworks were allowed in this area of the beach at the time. No flames, sparks or fireworks are allowed within 100 feet of the dunes and all fireworks are supposed to be aimed straight up or toward the water.

The fire started near where the grassy dunes meet the beach line and eventually extended past the primary and secondary dunes up to a swath of vegetation including dense wax myrtle trees, which are highly flammable. This wooded area creates a border between the dunes and residences along South Sand Dune Avenue Southwest.

Altogether, the burned area is estimated to be about five acres.

Conditions at the time of the fire were sunny with good visibility. Wind was estimated to be about 15 mph, blowing from the ocean toward the residences.

There were no injuries or damages to private property reported.

The Ocean Shores Public Works Department assisted in freeing B73 from the sand after the conclusion of fire attack.