Fire reportedly started by woman burning her journal

CHELAN, Wash. – A Stehekin woman who told fire officials her campfire started a wildfire that has burned an estimated 6 square miles was burning pages from her journal, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Harum said Tuesday.

The Flick Creek fire was 10 percent contained Tuesday on the eastern shore of central Washington’s Lake Chelan. About 130 firefighters were assigned to the blaze, which has burned nearly 4,000 acres southeast of the rural community of Stehekin.

Harum said if fire investigators conclude she started the fire July 26, she could face gross misdemeanor charges for illegal burning and be asked to pay the cost of suppression, now in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“She was very apologetic, very emotional she had done this,” he said.

Two heavy helicopters continued to drop water on hot spots near the fire line, and firefighters were using explosives to build a fire line up to 3 feet wide, said Barbara Budd, a U.S. Forest Service fire information officer.

“Because of the cooler temperatures and low wind speeds, we’ve had very little growth. Things are good,” she said.

A national firefighting command unit has taken over direction of firefighting resources for the four major wildfires burning in north-central Washington, including the Flick Creek fire.

About 810 firefighters continued to battle the Tripod and Spur Peak fires Tuesday. Together, the two fires have burned nearly 58 square miles northeast of Winthrop. Firefighters were working to build fire lines to protect the small community of Conconully.

The fire was believed to have been started by lightning.

Firefighters were continuing to monitor the Tinpan fire, about 40 miles northeast of Entiat, but were not directly attacking the blaze. The fire had burned more than 5 square miles of sub-alpine trees.

Also Tuesday, the 250-acre Bear Gulch fire between Lake Cushman and the southwest face of Mount Rose in the Olympic National Forest was 30 percent contained.

Montana

Higher humidity, cooler temperatures and a lack of significant wind contributed to a relatively quiet day Tuesday on a wildfire burning on the eastern side of Glacier National Park and on neighboring Blackfeet tribal lands.

“Fuels within the fire’s perimeter have burned, but there have been no major runs,” information officer Karen Semple said. “It’s still a slow, creeping fire.”

The Red Eagle fire was estimated at more than 25,000 acres, or 39 square miles, Tuesday evening; containment increased to 20 percent.

“We have worked very hard today constructing lines, and tomorrow we’ll be working hard securing those lines,” Semple said.

However, limited access, difficult terrain and a shortage of manpower slowed suppression efforts. Nearly 340 people were assigned to help fight the fire Tuesday.

In addition, fuels in the area are “very dry,” and the fire could spread quickly if temperatures and winds increase and humidity drops, Semple said.

“Growth potential is still high,” she said.

So far, no structures have been lost, and there have been no reports of injuries.

Information officer Kimberly Nelson said fire managers hope to be able to reopen St. Mary soon, but did not say when that might occur. Semple said Tuesday the fire remained less than a mile from town.

She added that about 57 percent of the fire, about 14,500 acres, was burning on Blackfeet tribal trust lands. Officials were looking into whether the fire had affected any historical or spiritual sites.

About 42 percent, or 10,500 acres, was burning in Glacier; less than 1 percent, about 50 acres, was on private land on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

The majority of the park remained open to visitors. Going-to-the-Sun Road in the park is open from the west entrance to Rising Sun, where visitors were being asked to turn around.

Park Superintendent Mick Holm said Tuesday that effective immediately, campfires and smoking would be banned in Glacier’s backcountry until further notice. Such fires also were banned at the Quartz Creek and Cut Bank campgrounds.

South of Livingston, the Big Creek fire, which destroyed three houses and at least three other buildings Sunday, was estimated at about 12,000 acres on Tuesday and was 20 percent contained.

Idaho

Light winds and cooler temperatures helped firefighters slow a 6-square-mile blaze in the central Idaho mountains Tuesday, raising hopes that the flames will spare a cluster of vacation homes and a rustic mining museum about 1 1/2 miles away.

The Potato fire grew about 700 acres overnight as two 20-person fire crews were added to the 272-person interagency team attacking the flames. Additional engines and dozers were also dispatched.

At least nine homes remained evacuated as the blaze moved east toward several scattered buildings along Yankee Fork Road, about seven miles north of Stanley, Gail Baer, a spokeswoman for the Salmon-Challis National Forest, said Tuesday.

Several roads in the area have been closed, she said.

Fire managers were also bracing to protect a power line that services a nearby mine owned by Hecla Mining Co.

Meanwhile, a dip in temperatures on Monday and Tuesday allowed firefighters to gain on the 1.3-square-mile Burnt fire in the Boise National Forest, about eight miles north of Warm Lake.

A 110-person crew with three helicopters is attached to the blaze, Cyd Weiland, a spokeswoman with the Boise National Forest, said Tuesday.

Fire managers have closed some remote forest access roads near the fire; no portions of the blaze are contained behind fire lines yet.

The 53,617-acre Foster Gulch Complex, burning in Hells Canyon near Halfway, Ore., is sending plumes of smoke as far as McCall, Idaho, some 60 miles away.

The threat to Idaho Power lines that service thousands of customers in Idaho, Washington and Oregon, has receded, company officials said.

The two fires in the canyon are considered 50 percent contained.

Oregon

Residents of two Sisters-area subdivisions evacuated because of the threat of wildfire were allowed to return to their homes Tuesday, though fire officials warned that the 9,200-acre Black Crater wildfire is still active.

About 500 people had been evacuated from the two areas, Crossroads and Edgington, after the fire came dangerously close to their doorsteps. Another 1,000 people had been evacuated from another nearby subdivision, but they were allowed to return home Monday evening.

In Wheeler County in the middle of the state, a 4,700-acre fire named Maxwell in the Ochoco Mountains was listed at 40 percent contained. Two campgrounds and three roads were closed, and firefighters reported they might close roads south of the Bridge Creek Wilderness Area, as well as other campgrounds, as a precaution.