Yacolt Burn wildfire declared contained

WASHOUGAL — Fire crews on Friday managed to contain a 10-acre wildfire burning in debris from a recent timber harvest north of Washougal.

Around 1 p.m. Thursday a report came in that a fire had broken out southwest of the Jones Creek ATV Trailhead in the Yacolt Burn State Forest. The forest is managed by the state Department of Natural Resources, which is leading the firefighting effort.

Three fire engines and two large hand crews headed out to the scene Friday morning. In all, about 35 people were on hand, said Chuck Turley, the assistant region manager for the agency’s Pacific Cascade Region office.

The crews made significant progress around the perimeter of the blaze since Thursday afternoon, Turley said. That evening, they used a bulldozer to dig a trail around the fire, looking to stop it from spreading.

About 30 inmates from Larch Corrections Center and East County Fire & Rescue stepped in to help. An investigator also showed up to search for the cause of the fire.

“It’ll probably take us another day to mop things up,” Turley said Friday.

So far, there have been no reports of injuries or structural damage from the fire.

Turley stressed that people need to exercise great caution in the woods, especially as the state heads into what will likely be an exceptionally busy fire season.