7/22/2014 Mills Canyon / Chiwaukum / Kelly Mountain / Duncan

 

Mills Canyon/Chiwaukum/Kelly Mountain/ Duncan

Fire Information 509-548-0139 or 509-548-0101

Suppression of these fires is an interagency effort, including Chelan County Fire Districts 1, 3, 8 and 9; Washington DNR; Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, and the Bureau of Land Management.

Yesterday

Two Chinook helicopters from the Washington National Guard are supporting the Chiwaukum Creek Fire with water drops on the active areas of the fire.

Chiwaukum Creek Fire:  Firefighters are conducting burn out operations on the northern perimeter, bringing the fire to the Thompson Creek drainage to secure the north perimeter. Smoke from this operation was visible from the Leavenworth area. The southern perimeter is creeping southward down the Tumwater Canyon. The active fire is approximately one-half mile south of Swiftwater Campground. Structure protection continued along Highway 2. Fire officials have confirmed two structures, one outbuilding and a seasonal cabin, have been destroyed.

Mills Canyon: Very little heat and smoke remain in Mills Canyon. Crews are using hand held heat detectors to locate and extinguish hot spots along the perimeter. Efforts continue on rehabilitating dozer lines and mitigating other impacts of fire suppression efforts.

Kelly Mountain:  Firefighters worked throughout the day on constructing firelines and locating and extinguishing small spots outside the fire perimeter. The fire did not grow yesterday. In anticipation of changing weather conditions and cloud cover air support may be reduced. Due these weather concerns fire crews were extracted from the fire area.

Duncan: The fire is growing slowly toward Entiat River.  Efforts continued on setting up sprinklers and clearing fuels around the 14 recreational residences located along the river, and assessing opportunities for containment lines further to the east near Shady Pass.

Weather

A low pressure weather system has moved over the burn, bringing cool, wet and windy conditions. Winds are expected to shift from the west north west to the south west. Warm and dry weather will return by the weekend.

Today’s Operations

The safety of firefighters and the public remains the highest priority. PNW Team 3 is continually evaluating operations and activity on the fires they are managing and supporting neighboring incidents as appropriate

Chiwaukum Creek Fire  Firefighters will continue burnout operations on the northern perimeter bringing the fireline down to Highway 2.  Structure protection groups are working along the Highway and in the Chumstick and River Road areas .  Night operations will continue to patrol for spots along Highway 2.

Mills Canyon Fire: As work is completed, fire resources are being adjusted and reallocated to other fires. Firefighters are rehabilitating dozer lines and mitigating other impacts of the fire suppression effort.  Firefighters will hold and patrol all areas on the Mills Canyon fire.

Kelly Mountain Fire:   In anticipation of changing weather conditions and cloud cover air support may be reduced. Due these weather concerns fire crews were extracted from the fire area yesterday. The fire is growing slowly to the north, south, and east. We are continuing to evaluate opportunities for control and anticipate re-engaging with crews once the weather event passes.

Duncan Fire:  Fire is expected to remain active today. Structure protection preparation, including installing sprinkler systems and wrapping buildings, are complete.   Firefighters will begin work on a shaded fuel break to be tied in to the Shady Pass Road.  This fuel break will serve as a contingency line where firefighters can work if the fire moves east along the river.

Evacuations Information

Evacuations and closures are dynamic.  They change throughout the day as fires move or as suppression efforts succeed in lessening the threat.  Chelan County Emergency Services has Facebook and Twitter sites where they post pertinent closure and evacuation information. For the most current closure or evacuation information, please check their site at www.facebook.com/pages/Chelan-County-Emergency-Management/188543097925415 or follow them on twitter

@ChelanCountyEM. Links to those sites and other helpful fire information is available on InciWeb at

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3937/.

Highway 2 is closed at the time of this update. Current State Highway Closure information is available on their twitter feed @wsdot.