Eagle Bluff Fire Swells To Over 15,000 Acres
Crews are beginning to gain the upper hand on the Eagle Bluff Fire near Oroville.
The blaze is currently listed at 15,349 acres.
It ignited Saturday afternoon and quickly spread in brisk winds, prompting dozens of Level 2 and 3 evacuation notices for homes in the area.
Okanogan County Emergency Management spokesperson Mo Goodall says the fire's western flank is still the most active.
"It's burned along the roadway in several places, but it's still actively burning off the roadway up to north towards Canada but it's circling around up there. So they're working that pretty hard and putting in lines. They've also got several pieces of heavy equipment and a lot of personnel working that area."
Goodall says the fire hasn't burned any residences but has done damage to the infrastructure along Loomis-Oroville Road.
"We have some rocks that have come down on the roadway that are being cleared off due to the fire burning the hillside along there. The Okanogan PUD is also in that area because they lost several power poles, so they are replacing those. So their apparatus are on the roadway too along with the fire personnel."
Several other local roads remain closed but U.S. Highway 97 is open.
Multiple agencies continue to battle the fire, which is believed to have been human-caused.