Ford-Corkscrew Fire growth slows, but flash flood warning brings some concerns

A flash flood warning is in effect through Saturday for portions of Washington, posing concerns for containment of the Ford-Corkscrew fire in Stevens County.

The Ford-Corkscrew fire slightly grew on Friday to 15,019 acres but showed signs of slowing, with the same 14% containment as Thursday. The fire showed moderate fire behavior Thursday due to the impacts of heavy smoke and increased cloudiness. Torching and spotting continued with active fire spread overnight, according to a news release from the team fighting the fire. Evacuations remained for the towns of Ford, Clayton, Tum Tum, and Springdale.

Greg Koch, a forecaster for the National Weather Service, said that the arrival of showers and thunderstorms late Friday and into Saturday should slow fire activity through much of Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

The flood warning is for Chelan, Ferry, Okanogan, Pend Oreille and Stevens counties.

Koch said lightning was expected to begin Friday afternoon throughout Central and Eastern Washington. He said lightning will be accompanied by significant amounts of rainfall, and if burn spots experience rain, they might be “vulnerable to flash flooding.”

Multiple road closures remain in effect near the fire.

As for other major fires in the region, the Cedar Creek fire in Okanogan County is 55,137 acres and 55% contained as of Friday evening. The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest said the fire showed little significant growth on Thursday, and predicted the same for Friday.

The Cub Creek fire is 70,154 acres and 65% contained. The national forest said that while there was some activity on the north end of the fire, it did not threaten any of the containment lines already in place.