Monday, August 3, 2015

8/3/2015 Wolverine AM Update

Wolverine Fire

Public Meeting  5PM Stehekin Community School

 
The Wolverine Fire continued to advance to the southeast across Pyramid Creek. Fire growth in this area consisted of widely scattered hot-spots growing together and was abetted by extremely low humidity, high temperatures and down-lake winds. The fire is also moving slowly up Railroad Creek. Growth was limited on the north end as the fire hung up on a ridge above Bridal Vail Creek. Fire size is now 16,000 acres.

Firefighters in the Lucerne area continued to mop-up areas of heat near structures and made progress in clearing forest service road 8301 between Holden Village and Lucerne. Firefighters were able to hike to Domke Lake and met with the owner of Domke Lake Resort, who is safe and in good health. A module of five firefighters made the trip to Stehekin and began work on assessing the fuel break around the community. A crew supported by boat worked on structure protection on scattered camps along the lakeshore north of Lucerne. Helicopters were unable to workon Sunday due to thick smoke over the fire area.

Diane Hutton’s Northern Rockies Type 2 Incident Management Team took over administration of the Wolverine and Blankenship Fires at 6:00 am on Sunday. The Blankenship Fire is located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness approximately 13 miles west of Stehekin. It is currently 135 acres and has shown no significant growth over the last few days.

Over 130 people turned out for the Public Meeting in Chelan to meet fire managers and get an update on fire progression and firefighting efforts. To date there have been no serious accidents on the fires.

Today’s Activities: Fire Behavior Specialist Risa Lange-Navarro expects minor growth today to the south and continued limited advances up Railroad Creek. However, today there is potential for thunderstorms that can increase fire behavior with associated downdrafts. In addition fire behavior may increase with the predicted inversion lift aroundnoon. The fire area is under a red flag warning for gusty winds and low relative humidity today at noon through 9:00 on August 4th.

Crews will continue working to open the road to Holden Village and mop-up operations around Lucerne. Firefighters in Stehekin will assess structure protection and fuel break options in the event the fire continues to move north. Additional resources are arriving daily and fire managers are evaluating the most effective places to utilize them. Current staffing of the fire is 213 people.

The Pacific Crest Trail Detour is CLOSED heading into Holden Village and out of Stehekin as conditions are rapidly changing on the ground. Northbound hikers will be rerouted out Suiattle River Trail (#784) to Suiattle River Road and can shuttle up Highway 20 to Rainy Pass and reconnect with the PCT.

The Detour is CLOSED southbound in Stehekin at the Harlequin Bridge/Stehekin River Road. Southbound hikers will need to backtrack or take the Lady of the Lake into Chelan. Hikers are advised to contact the National Park Service office in Stehekin or the Forest Service office in Chelan for information. Additional trail and area closures are expected in this area due to fire conditions.

A public meeting will be held this afternoon at 5 pm at the Stehekin Community School. Fire and Chelan District personnel will give a presentation on the Wolverine Fire and be available for questions.

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