Crews hope to slow fires with burns

WINTHROP, Wash. – Firefighters burned fuel Saturday in the path of two wildfires that covered more than 170 square miles in north-central Washington, trying to slow their growth as another wave of thunderstorms was forecast.

High temperatures persisted across the region when the Tripod and Spur Peak fires grew to 8,000 acres, or about 13 square miles. Lightning was expected this afternoon, said John Townsley at the interagency fire center in Portland.

The two fires, which had been expected to merge on the east side a couple weeks ago, finally merged on the west side Friday, he said. Both were started by lightning in July.

The fires, now called the Tripod Complex, have charred 174 square miles, or about 111,200 acres, between the towns of Winthrop and Conconully, he said. More than 2,787 firefighters, including 550 soldiers from Fort Lewis, were assigned to the fires Saturday, working with 108 engines, 37 bulldozers and 15 helicopters.

About 50 firefighters from New Zealand and Australia under a mutual aid agreement also pitched in, Townsley said.

Crews again worked to burn fuels ahead of the fire, recovering some ground on the northeast corner lost to wind Friday, he said. Most of the acreage increase since Friday involved burnouts, Townsley said.

The fire was 30 percent contained, he said. The area contains a lot of dead trees because of a 1985 mountain pine beetle infestation and a 1998 Englemann spruce beetle infestation, Townsley said.

The fire poses a potential threat to about 845 structures, he said – 300 houses, 120 commercial structures and hundreds of outbuildings in and around the towns of Winthrop and Conconully. Elsewhere, the Flick Creek fire was 50 percent contained on the east shore of Lake Chelan. The fire has blackened 4,420 acres, just 19 acres more than Friday. Authorities cited a Michigan woman with reckless burning for allegedly sparking the blaze with her campfire. Fourteen people were working that fire, with one helicopter.

The 4,697-acre Tinpan fire along the Entiat River trail in the Glacier Peak Wilderness was being managed as a wildland-use fire, meaning it will be allowed to burn naturally unless it threatens to go beyond preset boundaries. It had grown 45 acres since Friday. There were 179 people working the fire with one bulldozer, Townsley said.