Team Battling Pioneer Fire Establishes Close Ties With Stehekin

The firefighting team battling the Pioneer Fire on Lake Chelan is keeping in close contact with residents in the close by town of Stehekin. 

The incident management team held a meeting in Stehekin Tuesday night, where they told residents they'd get the most up to date information on the fire delivered to them daily. 

Incident management Team 13 spokesperson Eric Waters says the info will be posted in key spots around the town. 

“We are sending that information to community members, the post office up there, the National Parks Service has a presence up there,” said Waters. “There’s a couple of businesses that are up there that are, kind of, key locations for the community, and we are connected now directly with them.” 

Stehekin is roughly three-and-a-half miles north of where the Pioneer Fire is burning. 

Waters says they also want visitors to know that Stehekin is still easily assessable, despite the fire. 

“It’s a small window of time during the Summer when access is pretty easy in and out of that area, and it is a beautiful area,” Waters said. “And so, we want people to know you can still go there and we want people to go up there and recreate.” 

The fire has been burning 3,811 acres on the North Shore of Lake Chelan for the past three days. 

Eight helicopters continue to dump water on the fire with buckets of water collected from the lake. 

The number of crew members on the ground has grown from 387 to 422 as of Wednesday.  

There are 11 homes and cabins in evacuation notice areas that have so far been protected from the fire. All bridges, docks, campgrounds and hiking trails have also been preserved so far. 

Waters said there are plenty of areas outside of evacuation notice areas which are open to recreate. 

The evacuation areas are as follows: 

• Level 3:  Just north of Moore Point south to Canoe Creek. Level 3 (in red) means leave the area immediately. 

• Level 2 (down lake): Canoe Creek to Lone Fir Creek. Level 2 (in yellow) means prepare now in case you need to evaucate the area in a hurry. 

• Level 1 (down lake): Lone Fir Creek to Safety Harbor. Level 1 (in green) means stay alert and monitor the fire in the area. 

• Level 2 (up lake): Just north of Moore Point to and including Flick Creek Campground. Level 2 (in yellow) means prepare now in case you need to evaucate the area in a hurry. 

• Level 1 (up lake): Flick Creek Campground to and including the Fourmile Creek camping area. Level 1 (in green) means stay alert and monitor the fire in the area.