July 4 fires minimal

Fourth of July is usually a busy time for fire departments, but not this year, according to local fire districts.

West Mason Fire Chief Matthew Welander said it was a quiet Fourth of July for his department.

"Agencies and organizations got ahead of most of the issues and put rules in place and did a good job of advertising them," Welander wrote in an email to the Journal. "We had one incident involving a firework starting a very small fire. We had prepositioned crews in that area and the fire was put out quickly."

Welander said it has been a slow fire season but "we are really just coming into...