Lower Sugarloaf Fire Burns Another 1,000 Acres, Remains At 0% Contained For 8th Straight Day

A wildfire in Chelan County which has been growing at a steady pace for just over a week has added another 1,000 acres to its scorched footprint in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

The Lower Sugarloaf Fire, which was sparked by a dry lightning storm on Aug. 31 on the Wenatchee River Ranger District about 12 miles east of Leavenworth, has now grown to an official estimated size of 13,326 acres and remains 0% contained.

On Monday, the blaze expanded in the Roaring Creek and Indian Creek areas and also ignited numerous spot fires in the same vicinity that firefighters were able to keep from spreading.

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The fire also expanded along its western edges as well, marching further into the Chumstick Creek corridor towards a U.S. Forest Service road where crews have been conducting burnout operations.

Fire personnel also performed burnout detail along the blaze's southern and southeastern flanks just off Entiat Summit Road in an effort to keep the flames from making their way into the Chumstick Creek drainage.

Crews were scheduled to execute additional burnouts along a different Forest Service road around Dry Creek and Second Creek on Tuesday, as well as construct fire lines in several nearby places that the blaze is currently threatening.

New resources and personnel assigned to the fire were also planning to work on both control and suppression measures on the fire's eastern edges near the town of Ardenvoir, which was removed from a Level 3 "Leave Now!" evacuation notice late in the day by emergency management officials and placed back on a Level 2 "Be Ready" notice instead.

Firefighters are working assiduously on keeping the fire in check at Indian Creek and along Gold Ridge, and are also heavily focusing on more burnout operations in the vicinity of Dickleman Ridge.

A 60% chance of wetting rains lingered over the fire zone throughout much of Tuesday, and even if no sizeable amounts of precipitation were to occur, fire managers say just the presence of slightly cooler temperatures and higher humidity would likely aid in tempering the blaze's activity.

Despite the lowering of evacuation levels in Ardenvoir, all other notices remained unchanged, including Level 3 notices which persist for portions of Entiat River Road and all of Mad River Road.

There are currently 548 personnel assigned to the Lower Sugarloaf Fire, along with 64 engines; 16 water tenders; 4 dozers; and 3 helicopters.

There have been no reports of any structures being damaged or destroyed by the blaze thus far, and no injuries have been reported.