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On June 8th, the Pioneer Fire was reported burning on private land 31 miles northwest of Chelan and quickly spread onto US Forest Service land, including wilderness. Fire managers are using a full-suppression strategy to protect private property, public infrastructure, and natural and recreation resources, while minimizing risks to responders and the public. Part of the rationale for a full-suppression strategy is that the origin of the fire was on private land, and it is suspected to have been human-caused. Fire managers are contracting with area businesses to support opportunities of local economy. The communities of Chelan, and Manson are open and continue to welcome visitors.
Initial attack resources attempted direct tactics early on, but were challenged by the extremely steep and remote terrain on the east side of Lake Chelan that can only be accessed by boat or air. Full suppression efforts are being implemented utilizing a combination of direct, indirect, and point protection where the highest probability of success can be safely achieved. Firefighters continue to establish firelines and hose lays, working in conjunction with water-dropping aircraft.
While much of the fire area is within wilderness, if the fire were to spread significantly, it could affect population centers. Crews are actively assessing structures around Lake Chelan and completing structure protection actions to increase defensibility.
Chelan County is continually updating evacuation levels as fire activity changes. Please see the 'Announcements' tab for current information by area.
The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest has a closure order in place for the area around Pioneer Fire. Lake Chelan National Recreation Area (National Park Service) has also issued a closure order for Lakeshore Trail from Stehekin to Flick Creek Campsite, and for Flick Creek Campsite. The Pacific Crest Trail is open; however, facilities may be closed due to evacuation levels. Please see the 'Closures' tab for more information.
| Current as of | Sat, 07/27/2024 - 01:37 |
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| Incident Time Zone | America/Los_Angeles |
| Incident Type | Wildfire |
| Cause | Undetermined |
| Date of Origin | |
| Location | Approximate start 10 miles southeast of Stehekin, WA |
| Incident Commander | Lonnie Click - Incident Commander James Osborne- Incident Commander, Trainee Northwest Complex Incident Management Team 3 |
| Coordinates |
48° 10' 57'' Latitude
-120° 31' 51
'' Longitude
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| Total Personnel: | 749 |
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| Size | 31,905 Acres |
| Percent of Perimeter Contained | 14% |
| Estimated Containment Date | 10/31/2024 |
| Fuels Involved | Fire area fuels include: Timber (Grass and Understory); Short Grass (1 foot); and Timber (Litter and Understory) The Pioneer incident is within the footprint of the 2001 Rex Creek burn. Fuels in the area are highly modified by previous fire history. Abundant snags, heavy downed woody material, grasses, young conifer stands and shrub patches occupy the area. The area is a mosaic of fuel patches with rock scree and outcrops serving as partial barriers to fire spread. Grasses are mostly cured, while shrubs and herbaceous fuels continue to dry due to warm temperatures and poor humidity recovery, and are beginning to contribute to fire behavior. Timber litter fuels are patchy and dry. |
| Significant Events | Observed fire behavior: active, flanking, backing, single tree torching |
| Planned Actions |
Branch I: Continue to provide point protection to protect critical values along Lake Chelan shoreline from Stehekin to Flick Creek. Prepare the Stehekin community for defensive firing operations and provide point protection to structures along Lake Chelan as fire approaches CVAR. |
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| Projected Incident Activity |
12 Hours: Increasing temperatures and lower humidity will produce active fire behavior in available fuels. Isolated hot areas on north and east flanks are showing heat but little to no spread, except in Prince Creek which has shown a few hundred acres of spread recently. Div A is actively backing/flanking. Expect active fire in Div A to continue with backing/flanking and isolated torching as fire moves into the South Fork of Four Mile Creek. 24 Hours: Warm and dry conditions will support active fire behavior in available fuels with low to moderate growth. Variable breezy afternoon winds will continue to produce active fire in areas of available fuels. Diurnal up/down lake wind flow patter will support conditions that may produce smoke columns visible in the general area and contribute to regional haze conditions. Div A in South Fork of Four Mile Creek will continue to back/flank to the north and west toward the main Four Mile drainage. Poor to moderate nighttime humidity recovery will contribute to cumulative drying of live and dead fuels. |
| Weather Concerns | Saturday and Sunday 7 /27-28/2024: Saturday will remain warm and largely dry with a slight uptick in humidity values, A weak disturbance passing through the area will lead to cumulus buildups in the afternoon. There is a 5-10% chance that these mature into a shower or thunderstorm, Winds will start off light then becoming breezy from the northwest with gusts of 15 to 18mph. The warm and dry conditions will support another afternoon of moderate mixing heights and low-level instability, On Sunday, clouds will be on the increase late in the day as a moisture-laden system approaches the coast, Temperatures will warm into the 80s once again with 5-8 percent increase in humidity values. Increasing onshore flow will lead to breezy northwest or down lake winds through much of the afternoon and evening with gusts up to 20mph.
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