After a sunny weekend of campers to Randle’s popular Iron Creek Campground and a subsequent “red flag warning” where hot, windy, dry conditions up the risk of fires, a fire at the campground has reached at least 8 acres and drawn a response of 110 people, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The cause of the fire is being investigated as human-caused. There were no reports of lightning in the area at the time the blaze began on Saturday, June 3.
Seated in old growth within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, “where thick brush, heavy ground fuels and the threat of falling trees” impede firefighters’ ability to douse the fire, a Wednesday morning news release stated.
Lewis County Emergency Management Deputy Director Ross McDowell, in a Wednesday morning meeting, said it’s likely the incident command team formed that morning will set a perimeter around the fire and let it burn up to that point.
“Crews are setting up sprinkler system along the fire’s edge and dousing hotspots with hoses where it is safe to do so,” the release stated. “Existing barriers including the Cispus River, Iron Creek and roads in the area have helped limit the fire’s spread.”
The Chronicle has requested an interview with the incident command team to learn more about the approach. Iron Creek Campground will be closed for at least two weeks.
“I believe it will probably be quite a bit longer,” McDowell said.
The fire is off Forest Service roads 25 and 76, McDowell said, so tourists to Mount St. Helens and the forest, along with visitors to the Cispus Learning Center, should be advised. Emergency Management will aim to put our weekly updates on the fire unless daily updates are necessitated, he said.
Forest Service spokesperson Gala Miller said the current plan is to have updates from the incident command team each day morning forward.
Campers were successfully evacuated from the area when the blaze began and no injuries have been reported.
“A helicopter dropping buckets of water is assisting firefighters on the ground, and another water-dropping helicopter is expected to join the firefighting effort tomorrow,” stated a news release from the Forest Service on Tuesday night.
An illegal drone over the fire area halted firefighting operations on Sunday, the release stated.
“Drones present a significant danger to aircraft working over wildfires and firefighters on the ground,” the release said. “The public is advised to never fly drones in the area where wildfires are burning.”
