CHELAN COUNTY, Wash. — The Little Giant Fire in now the largest wildfire to ever burn through Chelan County.
Chelan County Emergency Management Specialist Rich Magnussen said at 155,000 acres, they’re no longer expecting to put the fire out as much as just try to contain it.
The weather is expected to give them an advantage this weekend as lower temperatures and some rain move into that area.
The fire has been burning for almost two months and right now is only 23% contained. Magnussen tells us the fire started on July 15th from a lightning strike.
“A lot of the fire experts are predicting it may go until the snow starts flying this winter, maybe November,” Magnussen said.
Magnussen said this is the largest fire to hit the county, now surpassing the 1994 record. That was the Tyee Creek Fire that burned through 135,000 acres.
“We’ve lost 35 structures because of the fire. Those were primarily in the Entiat Valley drainage. Two of those were primary structures, and 13 of them were secondary, so they were vacation homes,” Magnussen said. “Outhouses and sheds have also been burned.”
He tells us around 2,300 fire personnel are in the county fighting the fire 24/7 in hopes no other structures are lost. Those fire crews are from all over the country and New Zealand, since this is their off-season.
He said a fire this large isn’t only a problem now, but it will cause issues later on too.
“We’re probably going to see a lot of flooding as a result of it come next winter and spring. So it’s something we’ll have to prepare for and hopefully prevent some of it, mitigate some of that,” Magnussen said.
For now, the crews say they are taking it one day at a time.
“Hopefully it can keep in bounds where it’s within their containment line and not lose anymore structures.”
Officials say they will have full-time fire crews in Chelan county for as long as needed.