Four fires that were ignited by lightning on Friday continue to burn in the north end of Stevens County. Two of those fires have significantly increased in size.
As of Sunday afternoon, the Crown Creek Fire is estimated at 1,139 acres and Katy Creek Fire is estimated 250 acres. The smaller fires, the Blackhawk Mountain Fire, northwest of Crown Creek, is estimated at 55 acres, while the Johnson Grade Fire is about an acre.
All four are burning near Northport, Marble and Onion Creek areas with 0% containment, said Anjel Tomayko, public information officer for the Department of Natural Resources.
Currently, there is a Level 1 evacuation for Northport, Level 2 for Marble and Level 3 for Onion Creek, she said.
“The winds have been shifting today, pushing the fire in new directions and for that reason, the evacuation boundaries have expanded this afternoon that may continue to change throughout the day,” Tomayko said.
She says a state firefighting team will take over for a Northeast Washington Incident Management Team on Wednesday, due to limited local resources.
"Late August is usually the most challenging time for resources, because there are a significant number of firefighters that are in college and they're returning to school, as well as other firefighters who have children that are starting school. So resources become less available for those reasons, and the number of fires across the west right now are limiting resources even further," Tomayko said.
The four fires are burning in northern Stevens County, but the rest of the county is vulnerable as well, says Mike Bucy, fire chief of Stevens County Fire District 1. He said the southern Stevens County residents can expect incoming smoke and warns residents to avoid the area.
"While it's Labor Day weekend and moving into the beginning of September, this is a very brittle time for wildland fires to take place, and our upcoming forecast kind of reinforces the potential danger for the next couple weeks,” Bucy said.
