The crews inserted by helicopter on the top of the cliffs east
of Highway 21 near Bear Creek constructed direct line and made good
progress today. These efforts will continue for several days. The fire
near Barrett Butte “fell off” the cliffs and progressed to Highway 21.
There were no spots across highway 21. Firefighters are constructing
direct line on the fire’s edge east of Swan Butte. Suppression repair
has begun.
Both Fires: The Tunk Block and North Star
Fires are both very large. The fires combined are over 590 square miles.
That is four times the size of the city of Seattle or about the size of
the city of Los Angles. It is approximately 590 miles from Seattle to
Helena, MT. Interior islands and pockets will continue to smolder and
burn for the next several weeks. People should not be surprised to see
smoke from these areas. A night shift will be patrolling the fire areas
and available to respond to any reports of flare ups near the fires’
edges or structures.
Weather: The weather is expected to
be cooler yet dry Monday with a slight chance of a light shower in the
evening. Temperatures are expected to fall into the 60’s reducing fire
activity.
Evacuations: Evacuation levels in the area
along Highway 155 and much of the area south of Highway 20 are currently
at Level 1 or 2. Highway 21, from McMann Creek south to Bridge Creek
and the Moses Meadows area are at Level 2. For the most current
evacuation information, please contact your closest Emergency Operations
Center.
Closures: Much of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest remains open to recreation, hunting and woodcutting. Closures on National
Forest Lands east of Tonasket and south of Highway 20 on the Tonasket
Ranger District remain in effect; this includes hunting and woodcutting.
Colville Indian Reservation forest and recreational areas within the
fires are closed. See the map at http://tinyurl.com/OkaWen-Closure-Map
for specific closure areas. The Colville National Forest also has in
place Forest closure orders for the North Star and Keller Fires. See map
at http://www.fs.usda.gov/colville. The Colville National Forest also has in place Forest closure orders for the North Star and Keller Fires. See map at http://www.fs.usda.gov/colville
This page is designed to provide for timely and official fire information about wildland fires across the Pacific Northwest. The information is posted by the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in partnership with Public Information Officers that work for federal, state and local fire agencies and is drawn from official sources within the wildland fire community.
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