8/5/2021 Cheweah and Summit Trail Fires Update

 

Inchelium, Wa. – Wednesday’s early morning lightning storms sparked nine new fire starts surrounding the Summit Trail Fire and many more across the Colville Reservation. NW Team 7 shifted much of yesterday’s operations to support initial attack on these new fires and are supporting firefighters as they address two of them.

NW Team 12, the same Incident Management Type 2 Team that managed Chuweah Creek Fire, is mobilizing and will take command of the Whitmore and Hamilton Fires near Omak Lake.

Today, fire resources will primarily focus on the Summit Trail Fire. Along the east and southeast side, firefighters are reinforcing containment lines, taking advantage of opportunities to build line directly against the fire’s edge. To the north, dozers and hand crews are building containment line near Sitdown Creek and Johns Mountain while on the west crews are working to keep the fire east of the 14 Rd. Helicopters will be looking for any new smokes from the past two days.

Temperatures are milder with fire behavior expected to moderate a bit more today.  Despite yesterday’s storms, the Summit Trail Fire only grew about 300 acres from yesterday’s estimate, which is a significant decline from previous days’ growth.

The Chuweah Creek Fire has increased containment and is now 92% contained.

Evacuations: Level 1 (Advisory) evacuations are in place for the area from Lafleur south on Hall Creek Road to Hall Creek Flat (including Lynx Creek Road), Seyler Valley Road south to Bridge Creek Road, and for residents along Bridge Creek Road (including Mollenberg Lane) to the edge of Twin Lakes. The Twin Lakes area remains under a Level 1 (Advisory) evacuation as well.  A map of the evacuation area is available at inciweb.nwcg.gov/incidents/7677.

Boating Exclusion: North Twin Lake and the channel are closed to boating.  South Twin Lake remains open.

Road closures: Sitdown Creek Road is closed at County Highway 99. Some recreation and parking areas may be closed to public access.  Expect delays and please use caution when driving as firefighters will be working along the road. 

Closures: The Reservation is shut down to industrial activities and the general public. The Tribes have imposed an Industrial Fire Precaution Level IV general shutdown, which closes all forest roads to the public. State and county improved roads (with a paved or gravel surface) remain open.

For more information about the Colville Indian Tribes, visit https://www.colvilletribes.com/.