New Lake Chelan Fire Leads to 2nd State of Emergency Declaration in One Month for Chelan County

Chelan County is now under a state of emergency in response to a wildfire for the second time in a month.

The Twenty-Five Mile Fire started Sunday afternoon and had burned 4,000 acres by Monday morning.

The fire started near Shady Pass Campground and its cause is under investigation. So far, one building has been destroyed.

Chelan County commissioners have signed a resolution, declaring the disaster. Chelan County public information officer Jill FitzSimmons told KPQ News she can't remember another year when the county has issued two disaster declarations, particularly this early in the fire season.

The emergency declaration frees up commissioners to use local resources without going through the normal government bidding process, and is most often required for most state and federal recovery assistance funding.

“We want to avoid declaring a third disaster in Chelan County this summer,” Commissioner Bob Bugert said. “We all should use a much higher level of caution during wildfire season and join together in preventing these disasters.”

The first state of emergency was declared for the Red Apple Fire in July, which burned more than 12,000 acres after starting near a road beside an orchard on Red Apple Road near Cashmere. It threatened hundreds of homes in the Sunnyslope area, although none were damaged. Five outbuildings were destroyed, however.

Currently, 327 homes near for the Twenty-Five Mile Fire are under Level 3 (Leave Now), Level 2 (Get Set) or Level 1 (Get Ready) evacuation advisories.