Crews gaining ground on fires
CHELAN, Wash. – Firefighters continued to gain ground Wednesday on several wildfires burning in north-central Washington. The Flick Creek fire on the eastern shore of Lake Chelan was 15 percent contained Wednesday. The fire has burned more than 4,000 acres, or about 6 square miles, southeast of the rural community of Stehekin, but an estimated 165 firefighters continued to battle the blaze.
Stehekin residents remained on notice they should be prepared to evacuate, but transportation and visitor recreation services remained open in the Lake Chelan and Stehekin areas.
About 875 firefighters continued to battle the Tripod and Spur Peak fires. The two fires have burned more than 58 square miles northeast of Winthrop, but were 5 percent contained Wednesday. The fire was believed to have been started by lightning.
Firefighters also 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.
The 250-acre Bear Gulch fire between Lake Cushman and the southwest face of Mount Rose in the Olympic National Forest remained 30 percent contained Wednesday.
Montana
Fire officials began letting residents and visitors return to St. Mary, Mont., Wednesday night, saying a massive fire burning along the eastern edge of Glacier National Park no longer poses an immediate threat.
“The bottom line is crews have worked very hard with structure protection and securing fire lines, and we’re confident the town is safe,” fire information officer Karen Semple said Wednesday.
Officials lifted an evacuation order for the small town at 8 p.m., and reopened U.S. 89 from St. Mary to Babb, Semple said. Glacier also reopened the entire Going-to-the-Sun Road on Wednesday. A portion of the eastern side of the highway was closed because of the fire.
U.S. 89 remained closed from Browning to the junction of Starr School Road, Semple said.
The Red Eagle fire, which erupted over the weekend and spread quickly, prompted officials to close St. Mary to visitors and request that residents leave the small town. A number of area park campgrounds also were evacuated.
Semple said the fire was at 26,000 acres, or about 41 square miles, Wednesday evening. Containment was estimated at 30 percent.
About 57 percent of the land that has burned – 14,670 acres – was Blackfeet tribal trust lands. Officials were looking into whether the fire had affected any historical or spiritual sites.
About 43 percent, or 11,285 acres, was burning in Glacier; less than 1 percent, about 45 acres, was on private land on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
On the southwestern edge of the state, officials shut down Interstate 15 from Lima to Dubois, Idaho, to battle a wildfire that was burning primarily on private land.
The section of road was closed from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. because of heavy smoke from the Nez Perce Trail fire, which burned 800 to 1,000 acres.