Lower Sugarloaf Fire Increases To Nearly 8,000 Acres, Still 0% Contained

Although the Lower Sugarloaf Fire continued its rampage through the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest on Thursday, not much has changed for those who are in its potential path.

Evacuation notices remain largely unchanged to begin Friday, with all residents above and including 427 Mad River Road still on a Level 3 "Leave Now!" notice, and numerous other roads in the Ardenvoir and Plain areas still at Level 2, while Level 1 status persists for most of the major canyons north of the Cashmere area and has been extended to include both sides of Entiat River Road from Roaring Creek to the road's terminus.

The Chelan County Sheriff's Office has issued a notice for the public to stay off Entiat River Road unless they are a resident or have official business that requires its use, since the road is currently serving as a vital artery for those who are evacuating and apparatus that are involved in fighting the fire.

Officials with the U.S. Forest Service are also still asking the public to avoid the Mad River Trail System; the Tommy Creek and Tyee areas; French Corral; Pine Flats Campground; Merry and Derby Canyons; Derby, Eagle, Second, and Van Creeks; and the vicinity of Chumstick Mountain.

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The blaze is centered about 17 miles west of Entiat on the Wenatchee River Ranger District and is currently estimated at 7,781 acres with 0% containment.

It's one of several fires that was sparked by a dry lightning storm which moved over the region late Sunday, and it's seen a rapid expansion since Monday under both Extreme Heat and Red Flag Warnings, which finally expired at 9 p.m. on Thursday.

Smoke from the fire continues to impact many communities in the Wenatchee, Upper Wenatchee, and Entiat Valleys, as an Air Quality Alert remains if effect for much of the region.

The U.S. Forest Service says there were still about 150 personnel assigned to the blaze as of Thursday, when state mobilization was authorized to help bring in more resources to fight the fire - which has yet to damage or destroy any structures.

As the Lower Sugarloaf Fire enters its fifth full day of activity, crews are still scrambling to establish any preliminary containment on the rapidly-growing inferno.

Fire managers say the blaze has displayed extreme behavior as it continues torching thick timber and brush, as well as dead and down trees within the footprint of both the 1994 Tyee Fire and the 2018 Cougar Fire.

James Osborne, the Incident Commander with Pacific Northwest Complex Incident Management Team 3, who assumed command of the fire Friday morning, says crews were busy strengthening extant fire lines on Mosquito Ridge along the southern flank of the blaze on Thursday.

"Our folks have made some decent progress, especially up on Mosquito Ridge where we were able to get a bit of a fire line in there, and some really strategic firing operations to create more lines and get some things hooked on a little bit of a corner to create an anchor on part of the fire that was moving down a drainage towards one of the canyons."

Efforts were also heavily focused on structure protection in the Dry Creek area yesterday, where dozer lines were established that stretched all the way to the Chumstick vicinity.

Osborne says some aerial suppression measures were utilized, but smoky conditions and thinning resources have kept them from flying consistently.

"A lot of times when folks don't see aircraft flying, they think that we're not doing what we can. But I will say there are a lot of incidents across the Pacific Northwest right now and there's been lightning over the past few days in the geographic area, and our air tankers, helicopters, and other aerial resources are spread thin. We are working to get what we can brought to this incident to help support our firefighters so we can keep the incident as small as possible."

The National Weather Service says a high pressure system that's been over the region and fueling fire activity is in the process of breaking down to end the week and will soon be replaced by a pattern of cooler air that will bring lower temperatures and the possibility of rain over the fire zone in the days ahead.