ILWACO, Wash. (AP) — A fire at a port building along the coast in Washington state destroyed more than 1,000 crab pots just ahead of the state's commercial Dungeness crab season, which opens Feb. 1. The remote area of the fire made it difficult to get enough water supply to fight the blaze, the Ilwaco Fire Department said in a Tuesday statement. About 8,500 crab pots on the deck surrounding the building made fighting the fire even more difficult, officials said. Heather Hall from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife said the agency would do what they could to help crabbers who lost gear. The Washington Department of Ecology helped mitigate any potential environmental concerns from fire debris in the Columbia River on Tuesday.

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Persons: ” Natasha Beals, “, hasn't, Sen, Maria Cantwell, Heather Hall, crabbers Organizations: Ilwaco Fire Department, KING, Washington U.S, Washington State Department of Fish, Wildlife, Washington Department of Ecology Locations: Washington, Ilwaco, Columbia, Astoria , Oregon, ”