Fire still burning in Nespelem area

Tribal Recycling Center burned

 

Last updated 7/29/2020 at 8:42am

An air tanker lays down fire retardant near Schoolhouse Loop Road Thursday evening about 6:30. - Scott Hunter photo

A fire that started Thursday afternoon near the tribal greenhouses near the Columbia River east of the Colville Indian Agency moved rapidly over dry hills to Schoolhouse Loop Road about two miles away, burned the tribal recycling center and threatened the correctional facility, the school, the tribal archives and the town itself, the Mt. Tolman Fire Center said.

By evening, the blaze had burned about 1,200 acres of grass, sage and bitter brush as winds pushed it quickly across steep slopes toward Schoolhouse Loop Road, jumping it, burning the recycling center and threatening the correctional facility about a mile east of the headquarters of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation on SR-155.

The area around Schoolhouse Loop Road was put under a Level 3 evacuation order for imminent and life-threatening danger. Homes, Nespelem School, Tribal Archives and Records, and the Tribal Transfer Station were also threatened.

Mt. Tolman called in aid from nearby fire departments. About 60 people were fighting the fire Thursday, including a couple dozers and 11 aircraft.

Thirty-seven inmates from the Tribal Corrections Facility were evacuated and the Corrections Command Center was closed due to heavy smoke. The inmates were moved to the former middle school in Grand Coulee, which is a designated emergency shelter.

The cause of the fire, which was first reported at 2:40 p.m Thursday, is still under investigation.

By Sunday, the fire had grown to about 5,000 acres and was only 30% contained, and Northwest Incident Management Team 6 had taken control, with hotshot crews and firefighters rappelling from helicopters, of which there were six. The fire had moved into timber, with the northern edge near the Jackson Ranch northwest of Nespelem on SR-155.

Tuesday, the fire was considered 64 % contained and hadn't grown much, with good progress reported. Fire personnel numbers grew to 356.

On Monday, some of them got pulled off the fire to help with a fire in Nespelem, but local firefighters were able to quickly control it.

Tuesday, crews were mopping up, looking for hot spots, but hot and dry fire weather has now moved in, and managers are concerned that unconsumed fuels may ignite with winds that could gust to 25 mph, with a 20 % chance of lightning not helping. Potential for spread is high outside the fire area, due to hot and dry conditions.

Schoolhouse Loop Road is still closed, as is the Columbia River Road all the way to Omak, although construction on it has resumed.

 

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