Concerns Raised Ongoing Pioneer Fire Could Ruin Stehekin Tourism

There's concern about the Lake Chelan town of Stehekin suffering because of the ongoing Pioneer Fire. 

The incident management team assigned to the fire has told residents the fire could burn through the summer and into October. 

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Chelan County Commissioner Tiffany Gering told fellow commissioners Monday that she attended a meeting last week where the management team addressed the residents and heard firsthand about misgivings with the way the fire is being managed. 

Gering says local people are worried the continued presence of the fire will ruin Stehekin's summer tourist season. 

"The Stehekin residents are extremely frustrated and are asking if we can help at all in encouraging the powers that be to put the fire out," said Gering." 

Commissioners say they'll now seek the help of U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell's office in applying pressure at the federal level to get the fire contained.   

Commissioner Kevin Overbay shared the phone number of the Central Washington Outreach Director from Senator Cantwell's office with Gering during their Monday public discussion. 

Overbay said the lack of tourism in Stehekin will have an adverse effect on the whole county. 

"Here we are, we're making a plug for the community for tourism, which is their big tourism season," said Overbay. "And people aren't coming because of the fire, that impacts our businesses. That impacts a ton of things." 

Overbay said the air quality and the local economy, among other factors, will be harmed if the fire is allowed to burn indefinitely. 

Gering pointed out that the fire is not the dominating presence on the side of the lake it's thought to be. She said during her ride up to Stehekin there were "hot spots" and "small areas of flames", but the entire hillside was not on fire. She also said the air quality was not bad. 

Stehekin sits at the north end of Lake Chelan and is only accessible by boat. It’s a popular tourist destination spot during the warm weather summer months.  

Commissioners talked about stressing to the public that the town is open for business and not affected by the fire which is downlake several miles. The website which posts updates from the fire management team includes the sentence in bold blue underlined letters, "Stehekin, Chelan and Manson are open and continue to welcome visitors."

The fire management team has focused on protecting homes, docks, campgrounds and trails as the fire is burning more than 4,500 acres on the north shore of Lake Chelan. 

As of last Tuesday, about $2.5 million had been spent on battling the fire. 

As of this morning at 6 am, Northwest Complex Incident Management Team 13 was replaced on scene by Northwest Complex Incident Management Team 7 

Almost 600 personnel have been battling the fire. A six-vessel boat group is continuously shuttling firefighters, equipment and supplies back and forth between Chelan, Lucerne, Stehekin and the fire area. 

The National Park Service has issued a closure order for Lakeshore Trail from Stehekin to Flick Creek Campsite, and for Flick Creek Campsite. 

Evacuation notices have remained unchanged since Sunday, June 16. 

• Level 3: Just north of Moore Point south to Canoe Creek. Level 3 (in red) means leave the area immediately. 
• Level 2 (down lake): Canoe Creek to Lone Fir Creek. Level 2 (in yellow) means prepare now in case you need to evacuate the area in a hurry. 
• Level 1 (down lake): Lone Fir Creek to Safety Harbor. Level 1 (in green) means stay alert and monitor the fire in the area. 
• Level 2 (up lake): Just north of Moore Point to and including Flick Creek Campground. Level 2 (in yellow) means prepare now in case you need to evacuate the area in a hurry. 
• Level 1 (up lake): Flick Creek Campground to and including the Fourmile Creek camping area. Level 1 (in green) means stay alert and monitor the fire in the area.