OLYMPIA — A weekend heat wave with high temperatures and dry conditions has kept firefighters around the South Sound busy this weekend.
The Northwest has more than 2,600 firefighters and support personnel working to fight seven large fires with a total of 52,800 affected acres, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.
Multiple fires have affected Pierce County this month, including a mobile home park fire in Lakewood and a blaze in Stadium District. The North Cascades Sourdough Fire is one of the largest in the state. Currently, it is at 1,938 acres and 5% containment, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. State Route 20 remains closed between Newhalem and milepost 146, with no set time for reopening.
North winds, combined with the Sourdough Fire, have brought noticeable smoke and haze through Puget Sound, according to the National Weather Service. This may decrease air quality through the weekend and into Monday.
The NWS projects fire risk levels will be highest on Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures are expected to break 90 degrees in Tacoma and Olympia.
- Joint Base Lewis-McChord Fire
JBLM has a 150-acre blaze burning off of Mounts Gate Road on the base. There is visible smoke and the base has its own firefighting force, according to Janet Pearce, state Department of Natural Resources wildfire public information officer.
Pearce said the DNR has no further details on the fire at this time. The Emergency Management Division did not immediately respond to requests for additional information on the blaze.
- Rochester Street Fire in Rainier
The Rochester Street Fire in Rainier is under control, according to Thurston County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Mike Brooks. Though fire officials asked deputies to conduct some level 2 evacuation warnings early Sunday morning, he said authorities have since told the Sheriff’s Department they could stop because the fire is “under control enough.”
The blaze is at 7 acres, according to WildCAD, a computer-aided dispatch system that wildland fire agencies use to monitor fires around the country.
The Southeast Thurston Fire Authority did not immediately respond to requests for additional information on the fire.
At 11:12 a.m. Sunday, West Pierce Fire responded to a large brush fire in the 100 block of Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest, west of Western State Hospital. The fire was under control as of 11:33 a.m.
A car fire on northbound I-5 in Tacoma, at milepost 129.6, was put out as of midnight Sunday.
Washington State Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Doug Simmons said the full size of the fire has yet to be determined. While the blaze destroyed trees, grass and the car, no buildings or people were injured.
