The Little Giant Fire has burned more than 140,000 acres as of Saturday, becoming the largest wildfire to burn entirely within in Chelan County borders.
The lightning-caused fire started burning July 15 in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and, more than a month later, has burned 140,379 acres and is 15% contained, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, surpassing the Tyee Creek Fire of 1994.
The Tyee Creek Fire burned 135,000 acres in the Entiat Valley, according to the state Department of Natural Resources, though some reports estimate the it burned 140,000 acres.
The Tyee Creek Fire destroyed 19 homes in the Entiat Valley and Johnson Creek areas and threatened more homes in the Entiat Valley, Navarre Coulee, Knapp Coulee, the south shore of Lake Chelan and the Little Chumstick drainage.
While the Little Giant Fire is the largest fire contained within Chelan County, the Lightning Burst Fire of 1970 burned 188,000 acres across Chelan and Okanogan counties, according to DNR. It's unclear how many acres burned in each county.
So far, the Little Giant Fire has destroyed more than 30 structures in the Entiat Valley. After Chelan County Emergency Management completed a thorough assessment from Snow Park down through the valley, it confirmed two primary residences, 13 secondary homes/cabins and more than 20 outbuildings were destroyed.
It's still threatening 173 structures in Level 3 evacuations.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, the largest wildfire recorded in state history is the Yacolt Burn, which burned about 238,000 acres over a hundred years ago in 1902 between Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties. About 148 families lost their homes and 38 people died.
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