Stevens County fire keeps campground closed

A Stevens County wildfire, not far from the shores of Long Lake, has been contained and is about half extinguished. Crews are working to put out the remaining flare-ups and embers but won’t be able to finish their work in time for campers and boaters to use a Washington state Department of Natural Resources campground.

Officials originally thought the public would be able to use the boat launch and other facilities at the campground on Long Lake. It became clear Tuesday morning, however, that crews need the entire campground for their base camp and command center.

The boat launch and campground won’t open until the weekend at the earliest, said Bernie Jones, the Department of Natural Resources’ incident information officer at the fire. It will take three days or so to fully extinguish the fire’s interior.

“They’ll probably monitor that fire for two weeks, because those sticks and stumps smoking in the ground – it could pop up again,” said Fred Wefer of the DNR.

The fire burned at least one building, but Jones said it’s unclear whether it was a cabin or an outbuilding.

The fire started Monday afternoon and burned 155 acres just south of Ford, Wash., near Highways 231 and 291 in Stevens County. Crews from local fire districts, the U.S. Forest Service, the Spokane Tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs joined the DNR to battle the blaze.

“The cause is still under investigation,” Jones said.

Planes from Canada dropped fire retardant Monday to aid the effort.

“We’re going to have two helicopters assigned to the fire today,” Jones said Tuesday.

“Today there are going to be folks digging and stirring,” he added, describing efforts to smother what’s left of the fire.

Wefer estimated that the cost of suppressing the fire will reach about $250,000.

Firefighters are on edge as hot weather continues through the week, especially with firework use today and heat lightning forecast for Friday, Wefer said. The Stevens County fire behaved as it normally would have in August, he said.

“Conditions the way they are, we could have three or four fires like that going at the same time,” he said.

The fire, which is kicking off the summer, was the first real test for some of the young DNR firefighters on the scene. About half of those under Shawn Soliday’s command were starting their first firefighting season.

Soliday served as the overnight incident commander.

He said he urges new firefighters to “be humble, make sure they understand what’s being asked of them and are comfortable with what’s going on.”

“The experience comes from the team around you,” he said.