Local News

Lightning Sparks More Fires on National Forest in Okanogan County

Jul 10, 2015

Firefighters responded to lightning caused fires on both the Methow Valley and Tonasket Ranger Districts today. Smoke jumpers, hand crews, engines and air support were all part of initial attack response efforts. The Zig Zag Interagency Hotshot crew is also stationed on the Methow Valley Ranger District to support fire response.

On the Methow Valley Ranger District, firefighters responded to two new fires today. One fire is in the East Fork of Buttermilk near the Libby Lake Trailhead and the other is west of Mazama, Washington in the Cedar Creek drainage.

Smokejumpers continued work on one of the two fires discovered earlier this week in the War Creek drainage of the Lake-Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness. The first of those two fires is now out.

East of Tonasket, Washington fire response included two lightning fires in the Clackamas Mountain area and a small lightning fire in the vicinity of Cayuse Mountain. Earlier this week firefighters from Tonasket Ranger District controlled a lightning caused fire in the Lyman Lake area. During today’s patrol, there was no smoke detected from that fire.

To report a fire, please call 911