The Pioneer Fire is still looming only about a mile-and-a-half to the southeast of Stehekin on the northern shores of Lake Chelan.
Fire activity has remained minimal heading into the week’s interior thanks to a continuing run of milder weather, and fire information spokesperson, Lauren Durocher, says crews have been hitting the fire hard at its closest points to the small community.
“Scoopers have been working for hours on end with as little as a four-minute turnaround between scooping from the lake and dumping water on the northern edge of the fire.”
Durocher says fire managers are hoping to target more localized areas of the blaze in the days ahead as well.
“If conditions allow, we’ll be inserting some crew members to help direct our aviation resources to more specific points of the fire, including the extinguishing of some of the hot spots that they are currently seeing within it.”
All 95 residents in the town of Stehekin remain under a Level 3 evacuation notice but there is no official word on exactly how many have left the area and how many have chosen to stay in their homes.
The blaze, which was initially reported as being human-caused but whose current official cause is listed as “undetermined”, sparked on June 8 and has now grown to 33,276 acres.
There are currently 674 personnel assigned to the fire, which is listed at 15% contained.
Fire managers are continuing to monitor a pattern of very hot and dry weather that is expected to affect the area for at least one week, starting tomorrow (Thursday, Aug. 1).