UPDATE 2: Saturday, August 5, 2023, 1300 Hours

Photo Credit: Gray IMT

INCIDENT SUMMARY

The SOURDOUGH FIRE is located about six miles outside of Newhalem (Whatcom County), Washington, which started on July 29, 2023, from lightning sparking a fire along the rocks would turn into a creeping fire.

The photo on the right depicts the fire just over the mountainside off Hwy 20 taken on Sunday, July 30, entering Diablo Canyon.

(R) Photo Credit: Mark Horner (published with written permission)

On July 31, it seemed like the fire was near being put out but in the following days, the wind would pick up and spread it around, catching nearby heavy fire loads to what it is today.

The Incident # is WA-NCP-000262.

CURRENT STATUS

Size Up

As of this morning, the fire has burned about 2,933 acres and still remains at a 0% containment status.

TFR in Effect: No Drones in Fire Zones.

Fire Behavior

Officials have observed active fire behavior with uphill runs, group torching and flanking.

EVACUATIONS

Evacuation notices are in effect for North Cascades Environmental Learning Center.

CLOSURES

Hwy 20 at MP 120-156 closed on Friday night at 2200 hours and remains the same until further notice. Both WSP and WSDOT are manning the hard closures.

(L) Photo Credit: WSDOT

Diablo Dam access, until further notice.

Closure info: https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/fire-closures.html

RESOURCES

Incident Management

Currently, the Fire is being managed by the Southern Area Gray IMT with Mitch Ketron as the Gray Team IC, but the NW Team 10 with IC Lawson, a Type 2 IMT is currently in the process of mobilizing and will have an inbrief this evening at 1800 hours.

A Special Kind of Weather Forecaster

IMETs are Incident Meteorologists – they are NWS forecasters who have been specially trained and certified to provide weather support at a wildfire location. (Source: NWS Seattle)

A Meteorologist from NWS Spokane will be joining the resource ranks on this wildfire. They will fall under the title of NWS IMET Operations.

CURRENT WEATHER CONDITIONS for Newhalem (AccuWeather): Mostly cloudy with temps at 85*F, winds at 5mph, and Humidity at 52%. UV is moderate. (1307)

Fire Resources

They will lead a total number of 267 firefighters and three helicopters, an increase of 104 firefighters since yesterday. Additionally, there are six crews and 11 engines.

Incident Cooperators

WSDOT North: Monitors and sends traffic information to the gen pub from 0700 – 1500 hours Monday-Friday for those in Skagit, Whatcom, and Island Counties. Call 911 to report road hazards. (Pic below taken on August 2nd) Photo Credit: WSDOT maintenance crew.

WSP: Law enforcement and traffic control.

Whatcom County: Sheriff’s Office (evacuation notices, traffic control, and law enforcement) and Emergency Management (EOC activated).

FIRE OPERATIONS

According to Fire Officials:

Friday’s Fire Operations

There was an increase in fire activity (and growth) westward to along Stetattle Creek, upslope towards Bucket Creek, and crossing Stetattle Creek; eastward towards Sourdough Creek and Sourdough Creek drainage, and northward towards the top of Sourdough Mountain. Helicopters were used extensively, dropping water to slow fire spread after the morning inversion lifted. Fire personnel were actively engaged in structure protection, triage, and preparation based on fire location and behavior, which included setting up hose lays, and sprinkler systems, and preparing structures in the town of Diablo and the Environmental Learning Center. Structure protection efforts around the Diablo community were implemented successfully. Structure preparation, including wrapping, is complete at the historic Sourdough Lookout.

Saturday’s Fire Operations

Fire personnel will continue to scout and identify possible fire containment lines. The terrain is extremely steep, rugged, and inaccessible. Assessments from Ross Dam eastwards Big Beaver Creek started yesterday and will continue today, as well as assessments westward along State Road 20 towards Newhalem. Helicopter water drops will continue in order to slow the fire spread. Although there is predicted moisture through the area over the weekend it is not a significant amount to slow the fire’s progression.

COST-TO-DATE

For Fire Suppression and containment efforts, expenses have reached $882,000.

(c) 2023 NW Fire Blog