Fire officials order mandatory evacuations

DRYDEN, Wash. – Officials in Chelan County issued a mandatory evacuation for 38 homes near Dryden in north-central Washington on Monday after a wildfire grew to about 150 acres.

The Fisher fire started at 7 p.m. Sunday about 20 miles northwest of Wenatchee. By Monday morning, it had burned nearly 150 acres, said Robin DeMario, spokeswoman for the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests.

The fire was burning on private, state and national forest land. Flaming trees were visible to drivers along Highway 2 between Leavenworth and Dryden.

Twenty homes in Derby Canyon and 18 homes in Williams Canyon were evacuated, DeMario said. No structures had burned.

The Red Cross opened a shelter at a middle school in Leavenworth.

About 120 firefighters were assigned to the fire.

The cause of the fire was unknown.

Near Lake Chelan, firefighters continued to monitor a complex of three fires that have been burning for weeks. The Pot Peak-Sisi Ridge complex remained at 46,970 acres and was 85 percent contained.

Firefighters were patrolling the Pot Peak and Sisi Ridge fires by air. Officials were still urging caution for residents near the Deep Harbor fire, which grew to 29,500 acres and was 80 percent contained.

About 485 firefighters were assigned to the three fires.

Warm, dry conditions were expected for the next several days, said Lori Hammer, fire information officer.

“Right now, we’re maintaining the level of resources we’re at, and we’re just going to hold tight for the next couple of days and see what the weather brings,” Hammer said.

One injury — a firefighter who fell and broke a wrist — was reported over the weekend, Hammer said.

All three fires in the complex were started by lightning — the Pot Peak fire on June 26 and the Deep Harbor and Sisi Ridge fires on July 19. The Deep Harbor fire burned a dock and picnic shelter at a campground.