Chelan Fire Department extinguishes two fires

CHELAN - Well, it definitely is fire season. Evident by the two brush fires that started in the Chelan area this past week.

The first fire happened in the early evening of Monday, June 12 when Chelan Fire and Rescue was dispatched to a brush fire east of the airport.

According to a media release, the first unit on scene reported a working brush fire in light fuels, wind driven downhill. With winds at 24 mph sustained with gusts in the 50 mph range the wind had the power to blow power lines together, which caused arcing and sparks to fall and ignite the grass below.

Fire crews had to pull back until the power lines were shut down and the conditions caused the fire to spread rapidly. After 10 minutes, the incident commander called in additional fire resources from Union Valley, South Lakeshore, Orondo, Manson and Entiat for a total of 18 fire apparatus staffed with 40 personnel.

Firefighters contained the fire to roughly 105 acres on the hillside between SR 97A and SR 97. There was no damage to any structures or evacuation and the fire was 100 percent contained by the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

On Saturday,June 17, Chelan Fire and Rescue responded to a fire by Chelan Falls. The fire was contained to five acres and no structures were threatened and power-poles in the area were protected and were not damaged.