Goat Rocks Fire Spreads in All Directions, Reaches 2,842 Acres; Improved Weather Expected

The Goat Rocks Fire in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Packwood continued to spread in all directions overnight. As of 8 a.m. Sunday, the fire had been mapped at 2,842 acres, nearly twice its size from 24 hours earlier.

No injuries or structure damage have been caused by the fire as of the incident command team’s most recent update.

Evacuation orders that went into place on Friday will continue to be held until Sunday evening at the earliest. Currently, a level three, “GO” order is in place for several neighborhoods east of Packwood: Timberline, High Valley and Goat Rocks. 

A level two, “GET SET” order is in place for Packwood proper, meaning there is “significant danger” to the area, per Lewis County’s Division of Emergency Management (DEM).

A red flag warning remains in place until 7 p.m. Sunday, signaling dry, windy conditions that make fire danger high. Cooler, more humid weather is forecast for Monday and Tuesday, which would be of help to the multitude of agencies currently fighting the fire. Per the morning briefing, the goal of firefighters is to get through the end of this weather event without injury.

The northwestern side of the fire has reached Coal Creek Bluff and will continue to be monitored from U.S. Highway 12 throughout the day. The highway remains closed to all but local traffic between Skate Creek Road and White Pass.

Per Packwood resident and Lewis County Commissioner Lee Grose, the blaze is “still roughly a mile and a half from any structures in the Timberline or Goat Rocks areas, and it’s over some fairly rough terrain to get there. The movement of the fire over the last 24 hours has been primarily to the north toward Highway 12. Even though it has expanded it seems to be calming down with the wind basically having stopped.”

He added that flames are roughly 2 miles south of the highway.

Firefighters are also stationed at Packwood Lake and La Wis Wis campground, with others taking action inside the various neighborhoods affected to bulldoze lines between forests and homes, run sprinklers, cut down limbs that threaten structures should they catch fire and monitor buffer zones between houses and potential fire fuel. Law enforcement and firefighters are patrolling the evacuated neighborhoods to ensure the safety of residents’ property.

Air support from helicopters to douse the fire may be used throughout the day if wind conditions allow for safe flights.

“There is a trigger point for a ‘GO’ for Packwood and that is the third ravine right before Highway 12, if that catches fire. We can’t say (if or) when that’s going to be, it’ll just be however the fire grows due to wind,” said Ross McDowell, deputy director of Lewis County’s Department of Emergency Management, adding that teams are holding out hope the fire will become easier to manage with better weather.

“This fire rapidly grew and everything from the risk to the size of the organization grew so quickly,” said James Donahey, acting Cowlitz Valley District Ranger. 

The White Pass School is hosting evacuees and serving meals made by the Salvation Army Centralia three times per day. Anyone who is at the shelter during meal time is welcome to the food, according to a staff member at the shelter on Saturday. 

School will not be held on Monday. After that, the district will make calls on a day-by-day basis. Sports schedules are also set to change, with Morton-White Pass’ Monday night football has been postponed to Tuesday while volleyball is indefinitely suspended.

For safety tips or to sign up for Lewis County Alert in order to receive evacuation notices, visit https://lewiscountywa.gov/departments/emergency-management/.

For more on the fire, visit, https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/giffordpinchot/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD1059368&fbclid=IwAR3y7zgfmj9IcZdbvZNpUK0ikrYt1XVSREOStcP7cagBaWGaJYMaK8FcSfw.