Cigarette Sparked Fire That Destroyed Kittitas County Pot Business, Officials Say

Officials in Kittitas County have revealed the cause of a fire that destroyed a marijuana business near Thorp last week.

The Ellensburg Daily Record reports Kittitas County Fire Marshal Dan Young says the blaze in Watt Canyon on Aug. 20 was sparked by an improperly-discarded cigarette.

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“They went outside to smoke a cigarette, and thought they had put it out correctly,” said Young regarding the actions which caused the fire at around 3 a.m. and led to the total loss of the structure that housed the legal cannabis operation.

The blaze was the second of three over a span of as many days in Kittitas County which could be traced to human causes.

Two days earlier, the Sun Country Fire was ignited by a malfunctioning vehicle trailer along Interstate-90 between Cle Elum and Easton, and on Aug. 21, the Pipe Creek Fire was sparked by a mobile home on the shoulder of U.S. Highway 97 near the summit of Blewett Pass.