OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Despite flames one Duckabush Road homeowner described as “like Roman candles” and thick smoke visible as far away as Olympia last week, the 750-acre 10 Mile fire has moved only about a half-mile closer to human habitation since it began June 13.
It poses no danger to people or property, according to fire officials.
Managers of the five lightning-ignited Heatwave Complex fires still burning in Olympic National Park met with about 25 people during a two-hour open house in Brinnon on Friday.
Most were concerned about the Thursday afternoon display by the 10 Mile blaze in the Duckabush Valley — the oldest and largest of the fires started by lightning in the park in June and July — when flames charged up a slope of subapline fir and burned about 80 acres in a few hours, said Todd Rankin of the park’s fire management office.
Karen Sickel could see the flames from the deck of her home 3 miles up Duckabush Road, where she lives in a subdivision of six or seven homes that she estimates are about 6 miles from the 10 Mile fire.
“It was scary because it was like Roman candles going up,” she said.
“The fire would be at the base of a tree and within seconds it had consumed the tree — and you could see that with the naked eye.
“It was like watching a fireworks display. That was when I really got nervous.”
Heavy smoke
Smoke from the 10 Mile fire could be seen in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and from Interstate 5 as the flames fed on trees, “torching” them in great whooshes up their trunks, Rankin said.
Because of the high elevation, both smoke and flames could be seen from far away, he added.
But the fire calmed down when it hit the barren top of the ridge and since has traveled back down the slope.
“The fire didn’t move any closer to private property,” Rankin said.
Sickel said that fire managers at the Brinnon meeting reassured her “as best as anybody could,” telling her it isn’t as close as it looked, and that if it moves east toward residences, they have a plan.
But, she added, “Fire is unpredictable. These are all based on models. . . . Nature doesn’t always follow a model.”
Rankin said the eastern edges of the 10 Mile fire and its less aggressive neighbor to the north, the Constance fire, are about 11 miles west of Brinnon “as the crow flies.”
“But there’s a lot of terrain in between,” he said.
Firefighters mopped up the edge of the 440-acre Constance Fire, which began July 11, at Bull Elk Creek on Wednesday, Rankin said.
“The fire has been held there for a month,” he said.
The 10 Mile blaze has stopped at a drainage on its east flank, Rankin said.
“It naturally stopped there. We didn’t do a lot of holding actions. It’s a moist riparian area.”
Since it began, the 10 Mile blaze has moved only about a half-mile east, he said.
Light rainfall Friday night also helped calm the park fires, Rankin said, but fire managers do not expect to do anything more than control the fires in the park “until we really get some significant, long duration rains” this fall or winter.
In the meantime, the fires closest to Brinnon “have a low potential” for moving east, he said.
And if, for instance, the 10 Mile fire crosses the drainage now hemming it in, firefighters will bring in helicopters to dump water on it.
“The terrain is too steep to get ground personnel there safely,” Rankin said.
The original Heatwave Complex fires numbered 12. Seven have burned out.
After a fly-over on Friday, firefighters updated the maps of the edges of the blazes, most of which are smoldering and creeping through underbrush.
The updates show that fires have covered more acerage in recent weeks than originally thought.
The report on the Web site, www.inciweb.org, says:
• The 10 Mile fire is about 122 acres larger than the 628 acres fire managers thought it was. About 20 percent of its edge has active flames.
• The Constance fire in the Dosewallips River Valley at Constance Creek, which began July 11, is now mapped at 440 acres — an increase of 2 acres from the earlier maps. Most of it is smoldering, rather than active flames. It has been confined on the east side, has minimal smoke and less than 1 percent of its perimeter is active.
• The Buckinghorse fire in the upper Elwha Valley in the heart of the park in Jefferson County covers 330 acres, an increase of 6 acres from the earlier map, and is backing downslope. Most of the flames are on its northwest flank, with only 1 percent of its perimeter active.
• The Knife fire — which is near the Buckinghorn fire and which began on the same day, July 29 — now is mapped at 170 acres, 30 acres larger than thought last week. The fire is backing downslope into heavier fuels, and flames and smoke have increased, fire managers said after a fly-over Friday. Less than 5 percent of its edge is active flames.
• The Sol Duc fire, the only blaze of the Heatwave Complex fires still burning in Clallam County, is now charted at 6 acres, a growth of 2 acres from last week’s report. Little smoke can be seen from the fire, which has few flames and is smoldering in the Seven Lakes Basin. About 1 percent of the perimeter of the fire, which began July 29, is active.
The fires still active have burned 1,696 acres of the 922,651-acre park.
A backcountry fire ban and several backcountry trail closures remain in effect.
For backcountry conditions, phone the park’s Wilderness Information Center at 360-565-3100.
For more fire information, phone 360-565-3124, 360-565-2975, or visit www.inciweb.org.
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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
