Local News

Wilderness Fire Grows to Ten Acres

Jul 11, 2013

This afternoon’s gusty winds pushed the Sun Mountain fire to about 10 acres in size. The fire is burning in the Lake Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness; in the south fork of War Creek drainage, southwest of Winthrop, Washington.

Ten firefighters from the Methow Valley Ranger District joined the six smokejumpers who have been working on the fire since Tuesday afternoon and the group continues to be supported from the air by helicopters providing bucket drops.

Today’s winds have pushed the fire in an eastern direction and the fire’s smoke column is visible from Winthrop. Red flag warnings for wind gusts remain in place until about 7:00pm tonight when the wind direction is expected to shift; coming out of the north.

Though the name may cause some confusion, Sun Mountain Lodge is not threatened by the fire, and is in fact separated from the fire by several miles of forest, rivers and ridgetops.