WENATCHEE — Crews are nearing completion of work to contain the Rooster Comb Fire.
The fire, once estimated at 230 acres of Wenatchee foothills, is now believed to have only burned 88 acres after an infrared measurement of the area, said Kay McKellar, spokeswoman with Chelan County Fire District 1. By 7:50 a.m. Tuesday, it was 80 percent contained.
Roads and trails near the fire are set to be reopened when evacuation levels lift at 1 p.m., when the fire is expected to reach full containment, McKellar said.
Crews that responded to the fire from non-local agencies are expected to leave the fire Tuesday afternoon after a transfer of command to District 1, she said.
No structures were damaged and no one was injured. No air support was needed Monday after a heavy response Sunday, she said.
All areas previously under Level 2 evacuations — be ready to leave — are now under Level 1 — be aware.
The fire was reported at 4:40 p.m. Sunday on the 2300 block of Methow Street.
Chelan County Fire Marshal Bob Plumb said the fire started along the roadway.
The cause is “probably going to be clear cut,” Plumb said, but he declined to say what he believes sparked the blaze until after an investigator with the state Department of Natural Resources examines the site Tuesday.
He added that fire conditions are still ripe for ignitions.
“Things are still really dry here and it’s still pretty easy to start a fire here.”
Much of what burned belongs to Lovitt Mining Company, a longtime gold mining operation that recently has done work to repair roads that wind up its property.
“That road acted as a natural firebreak,” said Conrad Crane, with Lovitt Mining. “They were able to get their trucks all the way on top of that hill by going through the Lovitt Mining land.”
Crane toured the blackened property Monday and speculated that the roads may have been inaccessible if not for the new repairs.
Contractors working for Lovitt had an excavator and a dozer on site when the burn swarmed through.
“Fortunately, there was no damage to that equipment,” Crane said. “The firefighters took notice of that once notified that the equipment was there and made sure that they kept the fires down around that area, so we suffered no equipment damage.”
