Snow Machines Used to Protect Washington Ski Resort
The National Weather Service has issued an advisory for dry lightning and possible wind that could fan the fires.
"We're going to have some wind, and wind on the fires is going to scour the smoke and breath on the fire, giving us some increased fire activity," said fire spokesman Mick Mueller.
Fire officials are most concerned about the potential for the Table Mountain Complex burning near the Kittitas County-Chelan County line to explode and burn through miles of dry, dense and diseased forest between Mission Ridge and Blewett Pass.
Mueller said the landscape is so "convoluted" in that area that is difficult to predict where the fire will go. If the fire creates a smoke plume, there is also a danger of spot fires.
While the fires are still laying low, crews will be working along the Blewett Pass highway throughout the day, cutting down dead trees and opening up forest roads. There is a strong possibility that the highway will be a fire break to stop the fire's progress, he said.
The highway is scheduled to be closed until 6 p.m. Friday, but may reopen earlier.
Meanwhile, the two national fire management teams that have been overseeing the Wenatchee and Table Mountain complexes will finish their two-week deployment on Monday and will be replaced by two more national teams. The two new teams will work together on a joint strategy for the Table Mountain and Peavine fires burning between Wenatchee and Ellensburg.
The fire is now about a half mile from the Mission Ridge Ski Area, but is separated by rocky, mostly barren ground.
Mueller said it is very unlikely that the Table Mountain fire would burn all the way to the ski area, but he there it is quite possible that it could throw out burning embers that could start spot fires on the ridge.
Larry Scrivanich, owner of Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort, said crews have shot water through snow-making guns to protect the lodge, outbuildings and surround terrain wet.
Conditions there are hazy, he said, with periods of clearing, when flames from the Table Mountain fires are visible.
He said crews have told him that air support is on the way, and plans are in place for helicopters to dip into the mountain reservoir that holds the water for Ridge snowmaking equipment.
"The good thing we have going for us is the that the backside of Mission Ridge is rocky," he said.
Mueller said a report of a spot fire in the nearby Forest Ridge subdivision turned was a false alarm. The homeowner found a large piece of ash -- measuring about one foot around -- on the deck of their home. The material was not burning, but it was thought to have come from the Table Mountain Fire.
Copyright 2012 - The Wenatchee World, Wash.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service