Pomas Fire Now Only Three Miles From Holden Village

It's been almost a year since a wildfire in Northern Chelan County threatened to wipe out the small town of Stehekin, and now another community along the shores of Lake Chelan is facing the same potential peril.

On Thursday, officials assigned to the Pomas Fire reported that the blaze - which has now swelled to 3,333 acres, has crept to within only three miles of Holden Village, where a Level 1 Fire Advisory remains in effect for about 300 people - most of whom are tourists visiting for the summer months.

Spokesperson Don Ferguson with the Northwest 7 Complex Incident Management Team that's currently assigned to the blaze says its most recent growth has occurred in the upper reaches of Ice Creek and the Entiat River, where steep rocky cliffs are offering crews no opportunities to directly attack it.

"The good thing is actually that the fire's surrounded by those rocky cliffs and even a little bit of snow that's still up there," says Ferguson. "It's not really able to get out of that basin very easily. There is a possibility that it could, however, under a worst case scenario, so we've been running some heavy aircraft up there on the ridge that separates the north end of the Entiat (River) from critical infrastructure at Holden Village."

Aerial suppression efforts have still largely involved water drops, but Ferguson says some retardant runs have been authorized and already made in areas deemed most critical for halting the fire's advance. He adds, however, that resources are thinning as the summer progresses, making for any such deployments to be as tactically precise as possible.

"One big issue for us right now is that there are a lot of new fires that are burning in the Northwest. And new fires that are threatening homes and other critical infrastructure will get priority for assigning those Type 1 resources like the large air tankers. So we have to share those with a lot of other fires and plan very carefully for their use on this one."

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Hotshot crews have built a direct fire line and installed hoses above the Mrytle Lake in an effort to prevent the fire from spreading to the south towards the Entiat Valley.
Firefighters have also been using an assortment of heavy equipment to build and strengthen containment lines from Tommy Creek to Shady Pass Road and Twenty-Five Mile Creek.

If the blaze manages to penetrate these containment measures, along with several natural barriers, an alternative fire line which is nearing completion would then be utilized to stop it from spreading and threatening homes and other infrastructure nearer to the town of Entiat.

With the community of Stehekin still 12 miles away from the blaze and at virtually no risk from the fire, according to Ferguson, most of the attention is now being focused on protecting Holden Village.

"There's a high, sharp and rocky ridge separating Wilson Creek to the north from the Entiat River to the south on the edge of Holden Village," explains Ferguson. "If fire were to establish on the other side of that ridge, then the (Chelan) County would likely enact a Level 2 evacuation notice. The Sheriff (Mike Morrison) confirmed that would be the next step for Holden Village at our public meeting last night. But we're not there yet. We also have folks who are currently assigned to this incident living down there right now who are camped with the folks in Holden Village who are making contingency plans in the event we did have to fight the fire from that end."

The current Level 1 Fire Advisory for the Holden Village area does not include the communities of Lucerne or Moore at this time, but does encompass the Rio Tinto Mine water treatment plant.

A public meeting regarding the Level 1 status and the Pomas Fire's recent and expected activity was hosted by Chelan County Fire District No. 8 and the U.S. Forest Service on Wednesday night in Entiat. Fire managers report the meeting was well-attended both in-person and virtually, and that the communities being impacted by the fire seem well-informed and very supportive of current firefighting efforts.

The blaze, which was first reported on June 13 after being sparked by a lightning strike that smoldered for several weeks, has also prompted the closure of the Glacier Peak Wilderness area on the Entiat Ranger District, as well as numerous lakes, Forest Service roads, trails, and campgrounds in the vicinity.

The Pomas Fire is burning in grass and shrubs, as well as timber, and heavy dead and down timber within the footprint of the 2015 Wolverine Fire about 36 miles northwest of Entiat.

There is currently no official containment level for the fire, which has yet to damage or destroy any structures or cause any injuries.