Area Sasquatch Inquires Whether His Fire Pit Counts as 'Improved'

STEVENSON — A Skamania County resident of long standing has inquired, through intermediaries, whether a stone fire ring maintained continuously since before statehood qualifies as an “improved fire pit” under the burn ban’s campground exemption.

The inquiry arrived on paper, unsigned, and slightly damp.

Officials acknowledged the question is complicated by the county’s inability to confirm the pit exists. An inspector dispatched to the reported site found “a warm circle of stones and a strong sense of being watched,” conditions the county says it can neither certify nor stop thinking about.

The applicant, protected under Skamania County ordinance since 1969, is described by those claiming familiarity as compliant by nature, if not by paperwork. The ring itself is said to predate the concept of a designated campground, which may complicate the exemption or moot it, depending which official is asked.

“He’s been burning responsibly since before there was anyone to be responsible to,” said a Carson man who declined to explain how he knew.

The application is pending, like everything about him.