DIABLO, Wash. — Seattle City Light says it is closely monitoring the Sourdough Fire burning near its Skagit Hydroelectric Project, consisting of three dams near the towns of Diablo and Newhalem.
City Light is also assisting wherever possible to support operations, including with the use of heavy equipment and boating support for structure protection in connection with the hard-to-reach fire.
Currently, Interim Officer Andrew Strong says nothing is critically threatened, with dams and major infrastructure remaining safe thanks to the efforts of multi-agency teams on site -- but they are continuing to watch conditions and put protective measures in place.
"This isn't over by any means and we're one shift of wind or other changes in conditions to being more majorly threatened," Strong said. "It is important to say at this time, it is relatively stable- but again, we are actively monitoring."
As of Monday morning, fire officials said the Sourdough Fire has burned around 1,440 acres. State Route 20 has been closed until further notice between mile markers 120 and 156, and the Northwest Incident Management Team 10 has taken command. Fire officials say it began with a lightning strike on July 29 near Diablo.
Seattle City Light said it began evacuating workers and residents from Diablo on Aug. 3 and helped to evacuate people from other nearby structures as the fire approached.
"In this particular incident, we've worked with the National Park Service, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Skagit and Whatcom County Emergency crews, all to say that these multi-agency incident management teams have been highly successful," Strong said. "We really want to commend our partners in working on this particular fire for their quick action and quick responses."
Seattle City Light says it does have backup power-generating mechanisms in place.
"We've relied on those emergency systems during active fires, currently we are stable and not having to utilize them at this time, we have taken efforts to make sure the emergency generators are fully fueled and ready to go again if the situation changes," Strong said.
Strong says while the situation is stable for now and the fire appears somewhat contained on the side of its equipment, this is an active, long-term incident and will require significant investments in Seattle City Light's resources and crew.