Subscribe | What is RSS

Date: August 2, 2009
Contact: Cat Hawkins Hoffman, 360-565-3060
Contact: Kathy Steichen, 360-565-3133

Despite an onshore flow of cooler marine air in the lowlands of the Olympic Peninsula, very dry conditions continue in the upper elevations of Olympic National Park. Eight firefighters are now assigned to the Ten Mile Fire which straddles the Duckabush Trail on the southeast slopes of the Olympic Mountains. Upslope winds accelerated spread of the Ten Mile fire; by the end of the day on Saturday, the fire was approximately 150 acres in size. To protect visitor safety, Olympic National Park officials closed the Duckabush Trail from the La Crosse Pass trail junction to the park boundary. This adds to trail closures already in effect in the Dosewallips drainage where the Constance Fire continues to expand to the west. Current information on all trail closures is available at http://www.nps.gov/olym/ (under trail conditions) or by calling the park’s Wilderness Information Center (360-565-3100).

In addition to suppression activities on the Ten Mile Fire, on Sunday, ten firefighters and two helicopters worked on the east and south sides of the Constance Fire, and one helicopter focused on mapping perimeters of the Heatwave Complex of fires. Updated acreage information on all of the fires will be available on the web on Monday at www.inciweb.org.

An interagency Type II fire team is enroute to the park and will assume management oversight for the Heatwave Fire Complex on Tuesday, August 4, augmenting the park firefighting team, and enabling other park staff to return to their normal duties. Superintendent Karen Gustin noted that “conditions are changing daily, and we appreciate the public’s understanding during this time. Do not hesitate to access the web for current information.”