UPDATE: Jolly Mountain Fire near Cle Elum over 1,700 acres

UPDATE adds possible area closures and Level 2 Alerts

The Jolly Mountain Fire 11 miles NW of Cle Elum, was very active Wednesday night, backing down towards the West Fork Teanaway River. As a weak cold front moved over the area, drier air and increased northwest winds caused the fire to become more active yesterday. Most acreage increase was on the north and south flanks. To the north, it moved into the head of Salmon La Sac Creek and South Fork Paris Creek. On the south side, winds pushed the fire move toward Elbow Peak. Today with cooler temperatures and continued dry air, the fire is expected to not be as active as yesterday as it moves into areas of less dense fuels.

The Kittitas County Sheriff’s department has issued Evacuation Level 2 notifications in the area of Forest Service road 4330 to include residents in the Salmon La Sac HOA area, Paris Creek and Boulder creek areas. Under the Level 2 “Get Set” notification, residents are advised to prepare to leave at a moment’s notice. Deputies went door-to-door yesterday to notify residences in these areas.  There are several road and trail closures in the area and they are expected to remain closed through the rest of the summer season.

Fire supervisors are also considering area closures and level 2 evacuations in the Cle Elum River corridor as well as infrastructure directly south of Yellow Hill

The fire has surpassed 1,700 acres and is 0 percent contained. The fire was caused by lightning on August 11th.

A public meeting will be held in Cle Elum tonight, Thursday August 24th at 6pm located at the Centennial Center on 719 E. 3rd street. The meeting will be livestreamed on the Jolly Mountain Fire Facebook page.

Jolly Mountain Fire map as of 8/24/17