CHELAN COUNTY, Wash. — The Pioneer Fire near Lake Chelan has grown to over 33,000 acres and has prompted new evacuation notices.
The town of Stehekin down to Moore Point is under a Level 3 evacuation notice as of Sunday morning. Level 3 is a "Go Now" advisory meaning the area is under serious threat of wildfire damage.
Further south down Lake Chelan, Moore Point down to Safety Harbor has been downgraded to a Level 2 evacuation notice. Safety Harbor to Camas Creek was downgraded to a Level 1 evacuation notice, while Camas Creek to Mitchell Creek had its evacuation notice expire.
The county required tourists, campers and hikers to leave the area under the Level 2 order. Residents spent Thursday continuing to prepare their homes, raking and clearing anything that could catch fire and setting up hose systems just in case. First responders responded and helped people protect their homes.
"We watched people getting on the boat this morning, a big tree came over the lines and blocked the road for a little bit and that was a wakeup call to how things can go," said resident Chelsea Courtney on Thursday. "There's been a lot of coming together for the community, a lot of involvement in the fire meetings and then just neighbors helping each other out, communicating, emailing, everyone's got each other's backs because we know we have to."
The Stehekin Post Office temporarily closed Monday due to the fire. Mail and retail service operations were moved to the Chelan Post Office. The Stehekin postmaster will have residents' mail and packages at the main boat dock Monday to Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for customers to retrieve their mail.
Chelan County says the fire is 15% contained as of Monday morning, and the cause remains under investigation. It is one of 10 wildfires that have been burning around the state.
Information about each active wildfire in the Pacific Northwest is available through the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.
The Washington DNR has additional resources available here.