NEW AT ALKI: Fire rings replaced

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Thanks to everybody who e-mailed to let us know that new fire rings have arrived at Alki Beach. These photos were taken this morning by Vlad Oustimovitch – here’s a closer look at one of the new rings, notably lockable:

One last look at the old ones:

Alki is one of two city-owned beach parks where fires are allowed, as long as they’re in the rings and following the rules, which you can read here. The other park, Golden Gardens, already has these types of rings, which Parks staff unlocks at 4 pm; we’ll be checking with Parks tomorrow about the official procedures planned for these.

CJ April 23, 2018 (9:45 pm)

Confused about why a fire ring would need to be locked/unlocked ?

WSB April 23, 2018 (9:48 pm)

When they were converted at GG in 2015, our friends at MyBallard wrote, “They [Parks] hope this will help staff control illegal burning and prevent bonfires during burn bans.”

shauna April 23, 2018 (9:58 pm)

I’ve noticed that some people set up next to a fire pit with chairs and other belongings. Sometimes they add a sign that says “reserved” . Don’t you need to be there to hold the pit? What happens if someone else shows up and is actually there when you arent and starts to use the pit? how is that handled? I’ve sat at a pit for hours during the summer to hold the space but I’d much rather just put down a few chairs and a sign and go home until I’m ready to use it.

WSB April 23, 2018 (10:01 pm)

Nothing about reservations in the official rules (which we also linked above)
http://parkways.seattle.gov/2017/05/25/beach-fire-rules/

Guess it’s somewhat like people who put chairs out along parade routes and then leave.
Jerd April 24, 2018 (5:57 am)

When you leave stuff in a space for hours not planning to use it That’s not saving a space, that’s being a jerk.
- shauna April 24, 2018 (10:02 am)
  
  I agree Jerd so I’m still wondering what happens if there stuff has sat there all afternoon with no one there and I am ready to use the pit?
  - KM April 25, 2018 (10:42 am)
    
    Just use the pit.
- Guy Olson April 25, 2018 (10:06 am)
  
  Get there first.

Eddie April 24, 2018 (7:36 am)

Looks like that company could make some fine mailboxes too. Just sayin….

Dee April 24, 2018 (8:34 am)

I know beach fires are a “tradition” but sure wish the city would consider the negative results of continuing to allow burns. The smoke from these fires adds to our already compromised air quality and adversely affects residents in the area. Ironically, the air in the Admiral district is worst, just when you want to have your windows open for a breeze. Asthma among both children and adults in urban areas has been escalating at alarming rates. Public fires have been banned in many other cities….why can’t the “Emerald City” be green too???

Word April 24, 2018 (12:14 pm)

Balance, my pet- a few fires is not of consequence. Chairs and a reserve sign is not of consequence, either- pit is available for next burner!
- Winslow April 24, 2018 (12:50 pm)
  
  It is of consequence if you are downwind.

Denden52 April 24, 2018 (1:24 pm)

Maybe we should ban the volleyball games in the summer. The beach is clouded with thick dust.

Jamie April 24, 2018 (4:32 pm)

Back in the day, before 2004, they had the large concrete fire rings, which were about eight feet in diameter, down at Alki. Every year first weekend in January and a bunch of friends and I would get together and drive around West Seattle picking up discarded Christmas trees, grab some beers and then drive down to Alki to have a bonfire. It was awesome, the trees were all dried out and would go up as soon as you touched a match to them. The last year we did it, in 2003, we were just about out of trees when a couple of guys pulled up in a stake bed truck and asked us what we were doing. We told them and they said, ‘that’s awesome, we’ll be back in a few minutes with more trees and some beer. I think we burned trees until midnight that night and then went to Yen Wor for terrible Chinese food, stiff drinks and karaoke. Seattle just isn’t as much fun as it used to be.

Elle Nell April 24, 2018 (10:53 pm)

I totally agree Jamie! Too much up tight, no fun having, complainers..! Lighten up and you can not control everything… thankful I’ve lived here long before all the uptight control freaks took over— oh how free and fun it was!!! One thing is true, we knew how to enjoy life here in Seattle… sadly it’s changing.

wake up and live people!!

gh April 25, 2018 (6:23 am)

All these rules and issues make me recall fondly the old days when you could show up at Alki on a whim, gather some driftwood and have a little picnic without anyone complaining about something or giving you a ticket….

cjboffoli April 25, 2018 (9:00 am)

It seems to me that the “good old days” when you didn’t have to demonstrate any concern at all for other people should be relegated to the past in the same way that in the “good old days” it was an unspoken rule that you didn’t bring a black friend to a restaurant.

Mark April 25, 2018 (12:01 pm)

I knew someone would eventually pull out the Politically Correct card, another example of why Seattle is going to h*ll. I was there for the tree burning also when I lived on the strip. It was fun.

just wondering April 25, 2018 (12:36 pm)

Don’t know if it would work here but I saw this about how they recycle Christmas trees in Louisiana

One popular and seasonal state project, however, is not only stopping erosion but rebuilding the coast. The Christmas tree marsh restoration project takes Christmas trees that Jefferson Parish residents leave curbside and builds them into barriers to break the waves caused by tides and boats, limiting how much the water erodes the land.

Tree-filled barriers are installed in the bayou 100 feet away from the coast, and sediment builds up in the calm water in between. From there, aquatic plants can grow, and the plants’ roots hold the sediment together, making it solid land. Montagino estimated that he’s seen three to five feet of marshland rebuilt in the past 26 years.

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