Kaiser Canyon Fire Now 15% Contained As New Evacuations Issued Along SR-21

Containment has improved slightly on a destructive wildfire that's been torching the landscape of the Colville Indian Reservation for nearly two weeks.

The Kaiser Canyon Fire was sparked by a lighting strike on July 16 and has since spread to a current estimated size of 124,251 acres with 15% containment as of Monday (July 27) morning.

Gusty winds and hot, dry conditions prompted a Red Flag Warning over part of the weekend, which saw the fire enlarge by over 20,000 acres and require the issuance of new Level 3 Evacuation Notices for residents along a 30-mile stretch of State Route 21 from South Empire Creek to South Nanamkin Creek Road.

Hundreds of additional residents also remain on a Level 3 notice along State Route 155 (SR-155), as well as the Coyote Creek and Kartar areas. And a Level 2 Evacuation Notice continues in and around the town of Nespelem.

A 31-mile stretch of SR-155 from two miles north of Nespelem to one mile east of Omak (milepost 46-77) remains closed due to continuing fire activity, but Columbia River Road was fully re-opened over the weekend.

Get our free mobile app

Officials with Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 2 have confirmed 13 structures have been destroyed by the flames, with hundreds of others still being threatened.

Fire managers are hopeful that milder weather with calmer winds will aide in slowing the fire's spread to start the week, as crews continue making direct attacks on the blaze from the air while building containment lines and forwarding structure-protection efforts on the ground with a total of 884 personnel assigned.

Smoke impacts from the fire continue to be widespread, including poor air quality and reduced visibilities in parts of the Columbia Basin and the Spokane Valley, as well as Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties, and as far away as the Idaho Panhandle.

One firefighter suffered a medical emergency while battling the flames last week and required airlifting to a hospital in Grand Coulee for treatment, but no other injuries or deaths have been attributed to the fire.

Two emergency shelters in Omak and one in Coulee Dam are still hosting evacuees, and shelters for impacted animals have been opened in Grand Coulee, Okanogan, and Omak.