The Bear Gulch Fire near Lake Cushman has grown to 8,503 acres and is only 11% contained, as of 8:55 a.m. Friday, officials confirmed.
Warmer temperatures and dry weather conditions have contributed to the increased fire activity and smoke production in the past 24 hours.
Level 3 evacuations for Bear Gulch Fire
The Bear Gulch Fire area near Copper Creek is under a Level 3 “Go Now” evacuation order.
The evacuation order includes the Staircase Campground and areas across the causeway on the north side of Lake Cushman.
Spokesperson Molly Pitman told KIRO Newsradio that circumstances unrelated to the burning flames have made it difficult and hazardous for firefighters to perform work efforts.
“There are trees that have been weakened because the fire has passed through there, or they have burned,” Pitman said. “We want to make sure the firefighters are safe, so we will not be in those areas that are super hazardous with those falling trees.”
A Level 2 “Be Set” evacuation notice has also been implemented at Cushman Ridge, south of the Dry Creek Trail.
An infrared flight flew over the Bear Gulch Fire Wednesday night and discovered the fire had grown in size by 130 acres.
“We do expect to see an increase in some of the fire behavior in some of the sections,” Pitman said. “Thankfully, we have a great team at our base that looks at weather and predictive fire behavior, and incorporates that into planning.”
Firefighters’ techniques for extinguishing the flames
Helicopters used precise water drops to suppress and control the spread of the fire. Water bucket drops will continue on the largest areas of smoke to cool the hot spots within the fire perimeter.
“The main thing that we are focusing on is having the ability to try to keep this fire at bay,” Bear Gulch Fire Operations Section Chief Derek Steidley said. “There are still some heats along the south flank up towards Lightning Peak, and the fire is starting to move its way down into that No Name drainage on the south end. ”
After a four-day planning session, 29 people within the Wildland Fire Modules and REMS crew began protection of the Madeline Creek, Seven Stream, and Six Stream bridges by wrapping them in protective material.
“We have flown two Wildland Fire crews into the Olympic National Park to get ahead of the fire,” Pitman said. “They’re going to work on wrapping some back country infrastructure, some bridges, to try to preserve those should the fire head that way.”
The fire continued to smolder but will transition to surface fire over the next few days. Clear skies and temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s are expected in the area, and there is no rain forecasted through next Wednesday.
Contributing: Heather Bosch, KIRO Newsradio
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