Loch Katrine, Suiattle River and Boulder Lake Fires
Daily Update, October 17, 2022
A Type-2 incident management team has taken over command of the Loch Katrine, Boulder Lake and Suiattle River Fire as of today, Monday, October 17th. Resources have been arriving to bolster the crews that have been out on the line and have started to assess the current footprint of the fire area to begin putting plans in place to get around the fires and limit additional spread beyond the perimeters.
Loch Katrine Fire is estimated at 1,225 acres. The fire did show active fire behavior yesterday. Due to the continuation of the unseasonably warm and dry weather, the fire behavior will remain active through the next couple days. There was an infrared flight overnight that was able to give a better perimeter map to get more accurate acreage. The fire is still burning exclusively in private timber land and on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest about 30 miles east of Seattle, WA. The fire may be visible from both the I-90 and I-405 highway corridors. The fire is not currently threatening communities or structures as it’s restricted to public and private timber lands.
Suiattle River Fire is 2,288 acres as of October 16, 2022 (early morning). The primary objectives on the Suiattle River Fire is to minimize impact to; private structures on the northwest side of the fire, private property, Bureau of Land Management land, high value timber land, and to keep the fire away from Forest Service Infrastructure (Suiattle Guard Station, Buck Creek Campground and the Darrington Seed Orchard). Firefighters have been successful at keeping the fire in check along Forest Service Road 26. A total of 50 fire personnel are suppressing the fire using air and ground resources on both fires. Aviation resources will continue to be deployed for support to the firefighters on the ground as needed in areas where water drops can be effective.
Boulder Lake Fire is 1,531 acres and is most active on the west flank. Fire managers are assessing firefighting tactics for this fire. The priority is to keep the fire away from private land and Washington Department of Natural Resources land.
Evacuation: Level 3(GO) evacuations are in place for the Suiattle Fire in the Lower Suiattle River Valley. No other evacuations are in place for the other fires currently.
Weather: Weather has moderated and there are not any major wind gusts in the forecast for today. Winds should be light and give firefighters the opportunity to gain access.
Smoke: There will be smoke settling in the valleys and the inversion will keep smoke in town around North Bend. The inversion should lift in the afternoon and the smoke should clear up in town. Due to the inversion lift, there will be a smoke column that would be visible from the interior pockets of fuel continuing to burn. Smoke is a potential for some of the valleys while the inversion layer of fog mixes with the smoke. This afternoon when the weather heats up, there is the possibility of a visible smoke column.
Closures: Forest Road 57 and the Sunday Lake Trail #1000 have been closed for public safety concerns near the fire area.
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