Single Publication

Bolt Creek Fire Update - October 18, 2022

Southeast Washington Type 3 Incident Management Team

Incident Commander: Leonard Johnson

Fire Information Phone: (360) 370-4170                         Email: 2022.boltcreek@firenet.gov

Inciweb: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8417                      Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boltcreekfireinfo

Estimated Acres: 14,618

Containment: 41%

Cause:  Undetermined

Total Personnel:  277

Resources include: six hand crews, one helicopter, 32 engines, two dozers, and two water tenders

US 2: Hwy 2 is open but may be subject to intermittent delays if debris falls onto the road. Washington State Department of Transportation crews continue to partner with the incident command team managing the fire. Road closure information is posted in the WSDOT  real-time travel center and by @wsdot_traffic on Twitter and updates will be provided as road status changes. Intermittent closures may cause delays. For your safety, please remain in your vehicle if stopped in the road.

Fire Update: Yesterday on the Bolt Creek Fire, crews worked on the eastern perimeter where good progress has been made along the Beckler River area. Overall conditions and containment lines are holding well as firefighters continue to monitor a small area of heat detected on the northeast boundary. Otherwise, containment lines are intact and fire spread has been minimal. Along the Hwy 2 corridor on the southern perimeter, aviation resources focused on an area where fire was moderately active. Helicopters spent most of the day dropping water to cool the area and reduce fire spread.   On the western flank of the fire, east of Index, firefighters improved containment lines and connected the fire to the Lewis Creek drainage off of the 120 Road, and worked to push the fire to the north and west along the 6022 Road. A Structural Protection Group completed assessment plans and remains focused on protecting structures, particularly on the east side of Index and along the Index-Galena Road. The fire continues to produce smoke as it burns to the north into Wild Sky Wilderness.  As containment improves, total firefighting resources assigned to the fire are being gradually reduced. Some firefighting resources are being reassigned to other emerging local fires.

Weather: Conditions will remain warmer and drier than normal through Thursday with slight warming each day. Winds will be light and variable and generally follow diurnal upslope/downslope trends. Temperature inversions will develop overnight with increasing smoke in valley locations. The forecast for Friday through the weekend is for cool and moist conditions as a weather system brings substantial rainfall with snow at higher elevations. Winds will increase and become more southerly in advance of the approaching storm.

Evacuation Guidance: In consideration of more moderate weather and good progress on fire containment, the Level 1 Evacuation Guidance for the Baring and Index areas has been lifted as of 6 p.m. October 17. Please see more information here: https://bit.ly/3T7dLfN .

Smoke Information: Current information on air quality may be found at Washington Smoke Blog at https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/

Forest Closure: The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest has implemented an Emergency Closure on National Forest lands. Roads, trails, and campgrounds are closed. To read the closure in its entirety, please see:  MBSNF Bolt Creek Fire Closure. A burn ban remains in effect until significant rain is received.

The USFS Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER) report for the Bolt Creek Fire can be found on the Inciweb page: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/news/8429/. 

Washington State Department of Natural Resources has issued a Wildfire-Associated Landslide Emergency Response Team Report at:

https://www.dnr.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ger_hazards_landslide_walert_report_bolt_creek_suiattle_boulder_toketie_2022.pdf