PORT ANGELES — Six North Olympic Peninsula firefighters, three from Clallam County Fire District No. 2 and three from District No. 3, are deployed at wildfires across Washington state and Oregon.
From District No. 2, fire Chief Sam Phillips, firefighter/EMT Tyler Reid and firefighter Jessica Adams have been deployed to the Jolly Mountain Fire in Cle Elum, which was ignited by a lightning strike Aug. 11.
The Jolly Mountain Fire has burned an estimated 29,432 acres in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, state Department of Natural Resources lands and Kittitas County and was 10 percent contained by Sunday afternoon.
Phillips is the safety officer of the incident management team, which oversees all operations and logistics of managing the fire.
Working 14- to 16-hour days, Reid and Adams have been widening dirt roads and fire breaks around structures to help protect them when the fire moves through those areas, performing fire watch and patrolling for any spot fires which might speed the spread of the fire.
They are among 17 crews of 20 people each fighting the fire with the help of nine helicopters and 77 fire engines, District 2 said in a press release.
The state National Guard brought mobile sleeping quarters, security personnel and two firefighting crews, the release said.
From Fire District No. 3, three firefighters have been working in incident management.
Capt. Brian Swanberg and firefighter/paramedic Joel Bower are deployed at the Chetco Bar Fire in southwest Oregon, the largest wildfire in the state, which, as of Sunday afternoon, has burned 182,284 acres in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness since it was started by lightning July 12. It is 5 percent contained.
Swanberg has been deployed since last Monday, and Bower has been deployed since last Wednesday.
Capt. Darrell Sharp has been deployed to the Uno Peak Fire, burning in the steep slopes of the east shore of Lake Chelan, since Aug. 30.
As of Sunday afternoon, the fire burning 15 miles northwest of Manson had charred 7,236 acres and was 1 percent contained.
