Little Giant Fire Steadily Growing Northwest Of Leavenworth, Now Almost 800 Acres

The Little Giant Fire in rural Chelan County isn't a giant just yet, but it has been growing steadily over the past week.

Officials with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) say the blaze is located on the Wenatchee River Ranger District in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest about 41 miles northwest of Leavenworth and is burning in a remote portion of the Chiwawa River Drainage within the Glacier Peak Wilderness to the west of 19- Mile Campground in dead and down timber remaining from the 2003 Maple Fire.

The blaze was sparked by a lightning strike on the evening of July 15 and has grown since then to an officially-estimated size of 793 acres as of Tuesday (July 21)afternoon.

A local Forest Service Type 3 Incident Management Team is currently in charge of the firefight with 31 personnel and one dozer assigned to the fire, which has been pushed by warm temperatures and moderate winds in recent days, torching sparse timber on steep rocky slopes which are inaccessible to firefighters on the ground.

USFS officials say there are currently no structures being threatened by the blaze but a Level 1 Fire Advisory has been issued for the Trinity area, and Chiwawa Road (FS-6200) remains closed above Atkinson Flat Campground, with other trails and roads in the vicinity possibly soon requiring closure.

Trail closures are also now in effect for areas near the Ptarmigan Fire, which is burning about four miles from the Canadian Border along the western edge of the Pasayten Wilderness on the Methow Valley Ranger District.

Five other fires are also still burning in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, including the now-36-acre Three Queens Fire about two miles northwest of Little Lake Kachess on the Cle Elum Ranger District.

The remaining four fires are all much smaller and include the five-acre Nason Ridge Fire six miles west of Merritt on the Wenatchee River Ranger District, along with the two-acre Beaver Fire, the Jerry Lake Fire near Ross Lake, and the Three Fools Peak Fire in the Pasayten Wilderness, which are all located on the Chelan Ranger District.

Three others in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest - the Hornet Draw, North Fork, and Stewart Fires have all been declared as out or are now in control status.

The active fires are all receiving some form of suppression, including direct attacks by rappelers and smokejumpers, as well as aerial water drops.

All of the fires were the result of lightning strikes in the forest that occurred last week.

The Forest Service says it's anticipating more reports of other new fire starts as conditions warm and winds increase, and that another round of lightning associated with thunderstorms could occur late Thursday.