Stormy Creek Fire Crews Begin Mop Up Work

The Stormy Creek Fire is encircled and crews are working from the outer edges to the center of the fire doing mop up. Fire Information officer Michael Krueger says the approach is for firefighter safety due to the treacherous conditions from rolling debris in the steep terrain.

Krueger says the forecast for light winds should be helpful but Monday's strong winds did not present many problems on the fire.  The biggest concern for supervisors is on the fire's northwest corner but Krueger says the rest of the perimeter is pretty well controlled.

The fire is still listed at 80 acres and 10% containment. About 150 personnel under a Type 3 Incident Management Team are working the fire in grass, brush and timber.

The Stormy Creek Fire was first reported on Sunday, July 1, at about 2:00 pm. It is located west of Entiat, Washington, 17 miles up the Entiat River Road. There was a multi-agency response by the Chelan, Entiat, Manson, and Orondo fire districts, also the US Forest Service, DNR, and the Chelan Sheriff’s Department.

The fire originated near a residence, one mile from the main road in a sparsely populated area that has no cell coverage. The cause is undetermined. It is approximately 80 acres with 140 firefighters engaged at this time.

The fire is on the west side of the Entiat River in steep, rugged, and treacherous terrain that is within the 1994 Tyee Fire. The Tyee footprint consists of standing or down dead trees (snags). The floor of the footprint also has rocks of all sizes and shapes. These rocks are loosely held together by vegetation (leaves, twigs, grass, etc.). As the fire moves through these areas it burns the vegetation away leaving an empty space and gravity takes over. The firefighters must be ever diligent on the lookout for rolling rocks and debris. Other hazards include snakes, spiders, and cumulative firefighter fatigue.

The crews worked throughout Sunday night and early Monday morning to get a good start on securing this fire. The fire is moving upslope away from the river toward Tyee Ridge away from the river.

Strategic placement of line construction to separate the fire from adjacent fuels is almost complete. The crews will continue to work their way inward making sure that there are no hot spots, where safe.

Air assets, helicopters and fixed winged airplanes, were used yesterday and today and remain a valuable part of the fire suppression effort.

Areas that had been under Level II evacuation notice are recommended to be lowered to Level I, July 3rd.