Goat Rocks Fire
September 16, 2022
Overview: The Goat Rocks Fire continues to burn 1.5 miles northeast of the town of Packwood, Washington in and around the Goat Rocks Wilderness area. The fire has been relatively quiet in movement and overall fire behavior. The cooler weather conditions are aiding fire crews with suppression efforts. Crews are taking advantage of this opportunity to strengthen contingency lines around the fire and enhance protection measures around structures. In the wilderness where fire is burning to the southeast in extremely rugged terrain, the self-sufficient Wildland Fire Use Module (WFUM) is gathering intel and operating within the special limitations (identified within the Wilderness Act) on work in wilderness area.
Fire Activity: Fire crews yesterday continued to utilize heavy equipment and personnel to build containment line along Road 1266-041 and Road 46. Due to the improvement in the weather, air operations were able to provide support to the southwest edge of the fire within the Coal Creek drainage. This additional support has kept the fire’s edge from crossing Coal Creek. Today, fire personnel will continue similar work with prepping along the 46 and 1266-041 Roads. Crews continue to provide a presence within the Goat Rocks, Timberline, Upper Timberline, and Grizzly communities and will begin to remove brush piles generated from protection measures. Along the southeast section of the fire, the WFUM will continue assessing and monitoring the area. Forest Closures: US Hwy-12 and Highway 123 are both now open for traffic in both directions, but fire managers are asking the public to exercise caution on the roads as fire vehicles and personnel are operating in the area. Forest Roads 1260, 1262, 1266, 4600, 4610, 4612, 4830 and all connected spur roads remain closed. Additionally, #65 (Bluff Lake), #69 (Three Peaks), #74 (Pipeline Road), #61 (Clear Fork Trail from the trailhead to the Clear Lost Trail), #76 (Clear Lost Trail from the junction of the Clear Fork Trail to the junction of the Packwood Lake Trail), and #78 (Packwood Lake Trail) are closed. Hikers can continue to access the Clear Lost Trailhead but can only hike south on the Clear Fork Trail. Evacuations: All of Packwood and its surrounding communities except for Upper Timberline are at an Evacuation Level 1 (Be Ready). Upper Timberline is now at an Evacuation Level 2 (Be Set). Fire Restrictions: Campfire bans and other use restrictions are in place across the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and much of the region. Campfires are allowed within certain campgrounds on an approved list at:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/giffordpinchot/alerts-notices
Weather: A weak cold front will move across the area today bringing autumn-like conditions which are expected to temper fire activity. This cooling trend is projected to continue throughout the weekend.
Public Safety: Increased traffic is expected with upcoming weekend activities and fire personnel continuing to work in the area. Please use caution when traveling near the area and adhere to the posted speed limits. Donations: Northwest Incident Management Team 10 would like to extend to the community a heartfelt thank you for all your generous offers to provide donations to firefighters. Firefighters are well-provisioned, so we invite you to donate to your local Red Cross, Lewis County Fire District #10 (Packwood) and the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Sign-up For Alerts: To receive alerts from Lewis County in the case of an emergency, please sign up for Lewis County alerts at https://lewiscountywa.gov/departments/emergency-management/lewis-county-alert/
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