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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

State resources tapped to combat growing wildfire in Chelan County north of Leavenworth

 (Courtesy of Chelan County Fire District 3)

State resources have been tapped to combat a growing wildfire in Chelan County that has forced evacuations north of Leavenworth.

The Someberg Fire started Tuesday afternoon near the intersection of Chumstick Highway and Spromberg Canyon Road – a populated area about three miles north of Leavenworth. The 40-acre fire continues to burn and is threatening homes, timber and electrical infrastructure. Level 1 and 3 evacuations are in place.

The state has ordered five wildland strike teams, two 20-person hand crews and a multi-agency incident management team to coordinate with local firefighters already on scene, Deputy State Fire Marshal Melissa Gannie reports.

Brendan Cowan, spokesman for the Northwest Incident Management Team, said Wednesday morning that crews didn’t see any large-scale growth from the fire overnight, but that could change due to forecasted wind gusts of up to 30 mph.

“Other than the wind, there would be lots of optimism of getting the fire under control today,” he said. “But it won’t be clear until the end of today where we’re at.”

A Level 3 evacuation order telling people to leave immediately was issued Tuesday evening for Sunitsch Canyon to Eagle Creek, and all of the Spromberg Canyon area. Washington Emergency Management officials say 168 homes and cabins are affected by the order to leave.

A Level 1 evacuation order has been issued for one mile south of Spromberg Canyon Road to Leavenworth and Eagle Creek Road, the Chelan County Emergency Management reports.

The Red Cross has opened a shelter in Leavenworth.

No injuries have been reported and no structures have been damaged, Cowan said.

The fire started in an old log storage area, Cowan said, which has acres of old cedar logs feeding the fire.

“There’s a very large initial fuel supply to burn through and be extinguished,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.