KINGSTON – With blustery weather forecast again later this week, north-end fire departments are pointing to a narrowly-averted accident during Wednesday morning’s gusty winds and urging the public to exercise caution when driving in stormy conditions.

Officials are also reminding drivers to pay close attention to warning devices such as flares.

Just before 7 a.m. on Feb. 22, a North Kitsap Fire & Rescue (NKF&R) chief officer was on his way to the district’s headquarters station near Kingston when he spotted a tree down across the northbound lane of SR104, about three miles south of Port Gamble. He pulled over, activated the command vehicle’s bright emergency lights, reported the problem to the county’s dispatch center and placed flares on both sides of the obstruction. He was unable to move the fallen tree – measuring about 9 inches in diameter – out of the 50-mph roadway. The incident occurred on a long and flat stretch of the roadway with ample sight distance.

Despite this, as well as plentiful lights on the chief’s vehicle and flares placed to mark the hazard, at least one vehicle ran into the tree and sustained serious damage. Fortunately, it appeared as though the driver escaped injury.  Another vehicle barely missed the obstruction by locking up its brakes.

A Poulsbo Fire Department crew arrived on the scene shortly after the two near-misses and removed the tree from the roadway.  Officials remind the public that stormy conditions can produce additional hazards such as trees or branches in the roadway, and urge the public to exercise extra caution under unfavorable weather conditions – especially when flares and emergency lights are present.