Fire personnel continued the response to the Skyo Fire in East Lewis County on Monday after the fire’s containment percentage increased to 69% over the weekend.
As of Monday, the fire, located 3 miles west of Packwood, remained steady at 254 acres.
“Today, fire crews will continue securing the fire perimeter on the north and west slopes by clearing hazard trees and strengthening containment and control lines by removing excess ground material and limbing back trees,” officials with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Department of Natural Resources and Western Washington Type 3 Incident Management Team (WWIMT) said in a joint news release on Monday.
Officials said the efforts are being coordinated alongside “mop-up operations” to eliminate “residual heat, smoldering fuels and hotspots.”
To conduct the operations, firefighters must travel “up to 100 feet into the fire’s interior.”
The task, officials said, is time-consuming but essential for long-term fire suppression.
“After a successful burnout operation on Thursday, firefighters scouting the interior of the fire discovered an area of unburned fuels,” officials added on Monday. “Crews will assess the unburned pocket and determine if a small burnout operation is needed this afternoon provided all safety and weather guidelines are met.”
Officials said to expect a moderate increase in smoke in the valley around Packwood and Randle over the next few days, as higher temperatures could lead to increased fire activity within the Skyo Fire’s containment and control line.
The greater Western Washington area, meanwhile, is expected to see an increase in smoke drifting from wildfires in British Columbia and Eastern Washington. The smoke coincides with a warming and drying trend across the area.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, temperatures are expected to peak in Western Washington on Wednesday or Thursday.
The Skyo Fire has grown little since Friday, when officials from the WWIMT, Lewis County Department of Emergency Management and USFS held a meeting at the Packwood Community Center to discuss emergency management and community preparedness.
Officials said residents living on the north side of the Cowlitz River in the area adjacent to the fire remain on a Level One evacuation notice.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office issued the “Get Ready” notice on July 25. The notice indicates a potential threat to the area, but no immediate danger.
An upgrade to Level Two, or “Get Set,” would require residents to be prepared to leave within hours, officials said shortly after the release of the Level One notice.
Level Three, or “Go Now,” is considered a mandatory and immediate evacuation notice.
The Skyo Fire was first reported by the computer-aided dispatch system WildCAD just before 10 p.m. on July 22. It was among more than a dozen fires believed to have been sparked by lightning from a series of thunderstorms that moved through the region.
In response to the Skyo Fire, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest on Saturday issued an emergency closure order applying to the entirety of Forest Service Road 4710 and “all associated spur roads, beginning at the junction with FSR 4700.”
“The order restricts all motorized use as well as pedestrian access for the duration of the closure,” USFS officials said in the release. “Roads affected by this order are outlined clearly on the closure map available to the public.”
The closure is expected to last through December.
To view the road closure map, visit https://tinyurl.com/288cb94k.
Campfires have also been banned in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest until further notice.
To learn more about the Skyo Fire and other fires in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest area, visit www.facebook.com/GiffordPinchot.
To learn of any potential evacuation notices in Lewis County, sign up for Lewis County Alerts at https://tinyurl.com/9uzvvb4n.
