Jolly Mountain Fire reaches 11,500 acres
UPDATE: FRIDAY 11:30am
The latest update on the Jolly Mountain Fire, 11 miles northwest of Cle Elum as of Friday morning's report indicates the fire northwest of Cle Elum grew about 2-thousand acres yesterday. Supervisors say fire behavior on the lightening caused blaze was less active than Wednesday and the fire is now at 11,496 acres with 0% containment.
The fire spread primarily to the east, towards the Wagon Wheel/Middle Fork Teanaway River area. There was also growth to the south, down the West Fork drainage and slowly down the west side of Sasse Ridge, towards the Cle Elum River.
Firefighters intend to light some backfires over the next couple days to reduce the risk of spread past contingency lines.
Seven crews, 4 helicopters, 19 engines and almost 400 personnel are fighting the fire . Additional resources are arriving and some are being assigned to night shift as fire managers anticipate engaging the fire directly in the coming days.
UPDATE: 10:15AM (see interactive map link below for alert status and active fire area, closures)
Residents affected by the growing Jolly Mountain Fire, north of Cle Elum are invited to a community meeting tonight at 6:00pm The meeting will take place at Walter Strom Middle School in Cle Elum.
Firefighters said the fire almost doubled in size on Wednesday, fueled by high winds, heat and plenty of dry fuel. As of Thursday morning, the fire had grown to over 9,300 acres. Kittitas County Sheriff's Office escalated evacuations to "go now" in Middle Fork Teanaway near Cle Elum. Officials said of the 154 homes evacuated, half were primary homes and the other half were cabins and vacation homes.
Fire activity increased significantly with westerly winds that were stronger than predicted. Firefighters are preparing for the potential for more fire growth on Thursday. On the western perimeter, in places along Sasse Ridge, the fire will continue to move slowly down the slope towards the Cle Elum River. The southeastern corner was the most active where spot fires have been slowly growing together for the past week. Fire crews reported the fire moved approximately 3 miles to the east, prompting the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office to issue Level 3 evacuation notices for residents and recreationalists in the Teanaway River corridor. The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest also extended its closure area east all the way to Highway 97.
The fire is visible from many vantage points. Firefighters will patrol on night shifts to respond as necessary to protect homes and communities and limit negative impacts from the fire.
There are level 3 evacuation notices for residences along areas of the West Fork Teanaway River, along Teanaway Middle Fork Rd, the North Fork Teanaway River areas and the North Fork Teanaway Road. The Level 2 evacuation notices are still in place for most of the area on the east side of Cle Elum Lake.
The American Red Cross has opened a wildfire evacuation shelter at the Putnam Centennial Center in Cle Elum.
Other fires--
The Diamond Creek Fire is about 52,000 acres, growing more than 16,000 acres on Tuesday, and according to Inciweb, 63 percent contained. The fire has been very active with low humidity and warm temperatures. The blaze, burning 27 miles northwest of Winthrop has crossed the Canadian border and burned about 300 acres west of Sheep Mountain.
The Bridge Creek Fire, burning 13 mile NE of Keller, is 48 percent contained having grown to more then 3,500 acres. Work is being done to mop up and grid-spot fires as they build containment lines.
The Norse Peak Fire is comprised of three fires west of Ellensburg on the Naches Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. The fires are a combined 13,900 acres with 8% containment. There is growth to the West crossing the Pacific Coast Trail and threatening the Crystal Mountain Ski area. As the fire progresses to the East and West the threat to the Highway 410 also increases with a larger backing fire as it backs down to the Highway.
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