New Evacuations Ordered For Tonasket Area, As Sinlahekin Fire Grows Another 2,000+ Acres

A wildfire that sparked last weekend in North Central Okanogan County is causing more concerns for nearby residents.

The Sinlahekin Fire is suspected to have ignited by a lightning strike on Sunday (July 26), and has since grown to an estimated size of 10,527 acres with no official containment as of Thursday (July 30) morning.

The blaze is located along the southwestern edge of Douglas Mountain in the Sinlahekin Valley about 12 miles west of Tonasket and five miles south of Loomis, where it's burning in dry grass and timber.

Late Wednesday, a new batch of Level 3 Evacuation Notices were issued for areas the blaze is now threatening, including all homes near Blue and Fish Lakes, and on Lemansky, Sinlahekin, and Stadler Roads.

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A Level 2 Evacuation Notice also remains in effect for residents east of Sinlahekin Road to Aeneas Mountain, as well as Hunter Lake, and Pine Creek and Toby Mills Roads.

A Type 3 Northeast Washington Incident Management Team is currently in charge of firefighting operations with a total of 325 personnel assigned to the blaze.

Steep, rocky terrain and breezy weather within the fire zone have proven challenging for crews, as they continue their efforts to forge containment lines and make direct attacks on the flames.

Fire managers say the fire will likely grow, possibly significantly, in the days ahead due to strong winds that could also hamper the use of aerial suppression measures, including water and retardant drops.

Thus far, no structures are known to have been damaged or destroyed and no injuries reported.