The Goat Rocks Fire is continuing to grow in the forest outside Packwood, Lewis County’s easternmost community. It had scorched 1,600-1,800 acres as of Saturday afternoon.
No injuries or structure damage have been caused by the fire as of the incident command team’s most recent update at around 3 p.m. Saturday.
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).
Fortunately, the fire growth throughout the day has been slower than growth on Friday. Windy, dry conditions are expected to remain throughout the night and into Sunday. Cooler, more humid weather is forecast for Monday, which would be of help to the multitude of agencies currently fighting the fire.
Currently, the fire is 1 mile from the Timberline neighborhood, 2 miles from Packwood Lake and 1 mile for U.S. Highway 12.
The highway remains closed between Skate Creek Road and White Pass.
There are five helicopters and two 20-person hand crews working the fire..
“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.
McDowell said winds are forecast to be 20 to 35 miles per hour overnight. The direction in which they blow will have the largest impact on the fire’s behavior.
According to Adam Turner, U.S. Forest Service’s public information officer, around 500 residences in the three Packwood-area neighborhoods have needed to be evacuated. Law enforcement officers and firefighters are patrolling the evacuated areas to prevent potential crimes such as break-ins.
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 more 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.
Follow The Chronicle's coverage here: https://www.chronline.com/stories/goat-rocks-fire-still-growing-saturday-more-wind-heat-in-the-forecast,299552
