News Release

Bear Creek Fire Continues to Burn Slowly to the South

Date: August 12, 2021
Contact: Katy Hooper

The Bear Creek Fire continues to burn slowly along the southern portion of the fire’s perimeter. The fire remains an estimated 1,000 acres. An increase in fire behavior could occur over the next few days due to hot and dry temperatures; cooler and wetter temperatures are predicted to return to the area early next week.

Six North Cascades firefighters and the Whiskeytown Fire Module firefighters continue to look for opportunities to halt fire spread and assess containment opportunities in the northern area of the park. Crews are working to remove fuel loads, brushing, placing sprinklers and protecting park infrastructure while evaluating additional protection measures.

Trail and camp closures remain on the Copper Ridge and Chilliwack trails due to the fire’s proximity. The Copper Ridge Trail is closed from Copper Lookout to the junction with the Chilliwack Trail. The Chilliwack Trail is closed from the junction of Brush Creek Trail to the north terminus. Copper Lake, Bear Creek, and Indian Creek camps are also closed.  

Smoke from the Bear Creek Fire will impact the Chilliwack River drainage and smaller drainages feeding into the Chilliwack River. Smoke models show moderate air quality impacts to Ross Lake from fires in Canada Thursday and Friday. North to northeast winds Thursday may push smoke from the Bear Creek Fire towards Baker Lake. Friday morning the north end of Lake Chelan may have moderate smoke impacts from the Schneider Springs fire near Mt. Rainier. Areas surrounding the park complex should have good to moderate air quality through the weekend. Learn more at airnow.gov or visit https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/.

Visitors to the backcountry may see smoke from two additional fires burning near Moraine Lake in the West Fork Thunder Creek area.  Smoke from the Moraine Lake and Moraine Lake 2 fires may settle into the Thunder Creek drainage Friday evening.

For updates and information visit the park website at www.nps.gov/noca or via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NorthCascadesNationalPark. Contact the Wilderness Information Center for trail information at, 360-854-7245.

www.nps.gov/noca