Rain falls on a U.S. Forest Service fire information board sitting along Lillie Dale Road outside of Elbe as smoke from the Alder Lake Fire rise above the steep terrain across the lake on Friday afternoon.
The weekend rains slowed the spread of the Alder Lake Fire and gave crews a window of time to increase containment.
The fire held at about 275 acres from Saturday to Monday morning and is expected to grow only by about 5 acres within the next day. Fire crews were able to take advantage of the precipitation by growing their containment from 10 percent to 15 percent. The fire continues to smolder in the wooded debris on the forest floor.
Rain is expected through the early part of next week.
A total of 153 personnel, two bulldozers, five fire engines and a handful of other pieces of heavy equipment are combating the blaze. A type 3 fire fighting crew, the type that works fires that are under control or in the mop-up stage, has been assigned to the fire.
The Forest Service and the Washington Department of Natural Resources have completed road and dozer containment lines. Now they have moved on to scouting other contingency lines within the area. Meanwhile, crews continue to dig hand lines on the south side of the fire.
Road and area closures remain in place. Forest Road 74 and 7409 are closed for both public and firefighter safety.
The fire was started when lightning struck a very steep slope on July 26 and smoldered for about two weeks until Aug. 11 when it was big enough to be seen and reported. Last week, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office issued a Level 1 evacuation alert was issued last week, meaning residents should be aware of the danger but were not required to leave. The notice remains in place.
More information about the fire is available at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/4573/28191, the Gifford Pinchot’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GiffordPinchot, the sheriff’s office website:http://lewiscountywa.gov/sheriff, or by calling the DEM information line at (360) 740-1152.
