Single Publication

Port Angeles, Wash. – Today the wildfires in Olympic National Park showed minimal to zero growth due to the weak cold front that came through. Some areas in and around the park saw nearly a ¼” of rain while other areas saw none, the amount was highly variable.

Patterns with periods of cooler and moister weather followed by periods of warmer and drier are common this time of year on the Olympic Peninsula. Firefighters are watching the weather closely as Friday is forecast to be the hottest and potentially the most active day for the fires in the short term. The next short-term warm-up will be Thursday through Saturday and potentially into Sunday.

On the Low Divide and Martins Lake Fires, firefighters finished the defensible space preparation work around the Glacier Creek Bridge. In addition to removing any unwanted vegetation, they placed a ground-based fire sprinkler system around it as another form of protection for this important asset.

The Eagle Point fire was visible only when the clouds lifted today with a few plumes of smoke seen.

The Hurricane Fire remains 95% contained. Fire crews continued to remove the no longer needed equipment from the Hurricane Ridge area. Tomorrow, the remaining fire equipment that is over 1,200 vertical feet down the steep slope from Hurricane Ridge will be flown out via helicopter in large specialty cargo nets. The equipment weighs just over 2,200 lbs, including the cargo nets.

The Delabarre and Diamond Mountain fires continue to show no activity and remain at the same acreage.

Fire Name

Initial Report

Estimated Size as of 9/5

Location

Hurricane

8/28/23

4 acres

2,000 ft below Hurricane Ridge parking area

Eagle Point

8/28/23

85 acres

~5 miles out Obstruction Point Road

Diamond Mountain

9/1/23

25 acres

3.3 miles NE of

Anderson Pass

Low Divide

9/1/23

60 acres

N. Fork Quinault drainage

Delabarre

9/1/23

1 acre

3 miles SE of Mount Christie

Martins Lake

9/2/23

30 acres

2 miles NE of Mount Christie

Fire is an integral part of the forested ecosystems on the Olympic Peninsula; plants and animals here have evolved with fire for thousands of years. Many factors such as weather, topography, and vegetation influence fire behavior and the effects that fires have on natural resources.

Background Information

All six active fires in Olympic National Park ignited when a series of lightning strikes occurred on the Olympic Peninsula in the afternoon on August 28.

On August 18, Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest implemented a fire ban including charcoal fires. The move to Stage 2 fire restrictions is due to continued hot and dry conditions that are forecasted to continue at least through the end of October as dry conditions in the region persist. One less spark means one less wildfire.

Closures  

Due to wildfire activity the following closures are in effect until further notice: 

The Skyline Trail is closed between the top of the Elip Creek Connector trail and Low Divide until further notice. This closure affects 20 miles of the Skyline Trail and includes both Three Prune and Lake Beauty wilderness campsites. Additionally, the North Fork Quinault Trail from Elip Creek trail junction to Chicago Camp is also now closed and includes the Trapper, Sixteen Mile, and Low Divide wilderness campsites. The Martins Park Trail remains closed.

Obstruction Point Road and the trailhead will be closed until further notice.

Olympic National Park Wilderness Information Center (WIC) will be notifying backcountry permit holders who may be impacted by this closure. Any permit holders who plan to backpack in the above impacted areas should contact the WIC at 360-565-2992 or by emailing OLYM_WIC@nps.gov.

Weather and Fire Behavior

Upper-level ridge will push east today ahead of an approaching weak frontal system. This feature is slated to bring cooler temperatures and a slight chance of light rain showers during the evening. An additional weak disturbance is in line to arrive Monday night into Tuesday with more slight shower chances.

Information for the Eagle Point Fire can be found at: Eagle Point Fire Information | InciWeb (wildfire.gov)

Information for the Hurricane Fire can be found at: Hurricane Fire Information | InciWeb (wildfire.gov)

Olympic National Park information: www.nps.gov/olym 
Olympic National Forest information: www.fs.usda.gov/olympic
State and county area burn bans: www.waburnbans.net   

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