BRINNON — Three large fires and two smaller blazes — all ignited by lightning — continue to burn in the Olympic National Park as reinforcements come in from elsewhere in the country to help control the flames.
Two of the fires — the Constance fire, which has consumed 442 acres of forest in the Dosewallips River Valley at Constance Creek, and the Ten Mile fire, now grown to 379 acres — are within 15 miles of Brinnon, but park officials say they pose no threat to the town.
The 312-acre Buckinghorse fire is near the middle of the 922,651-acre park.
Two other fires — both of which were ignited Wednesday — remain small.
The Solduc fire in Seven Lakes Basin above the Sol Duc Valley remains under an acre, while the Knife fire, which is across the ridge from the Buckinghorse fire in Jefferson County, has charred about 15 acres.
Firefighters from Idaho, Montana, Arizona and New Mexico were brought in Monday to help, said Carrie Templin, the information officer for the team called the Northern Rockies Southwest Area Team.
Helicopters
Three helicopters have been pulled into use to help keep the flames from spreading to the south and east, toward the communities of Brinnon and Quilcene, said Diane Abendroth, fire ecologist with Grand Teton National Park, who is working with the Olympic Park officials.
“Two of the larger helicopters are dumping water along the east line,” she said.
“The third we are using only to shuttle around crews and for mapping purposes.”
No one on the ground
Seven firefighters are assigned to the blaze, but none are on the ground, Abendroth said.
“We have a few crews up at the ranger station on the Dosewallips laying down sprinkler systems to protect that building, but no one is actively fighting the fire or digging lines at this time.”
Trail closures were extended over the weekend to include the main Dosewallips trail from the park boundary to the junction of the Gray Wolf Pass, as well as the Dose Meadows trails, the Constance Pass trail and the trail from Dose Forks to Honeymoon Meadows.
Also, the Duckabush Trail from the La Crosse Pass trail junction to the park boundary is closed.
“We have staff on the trails near the Duckabush, Dosewallips and Elk Horn campground letting people know the area is closed,” Abendroth said.
Heatwave Complex
All five fires were among 12 blazes grouped together as the Heatwave Complex, all but one of which were ignited in July.
Of those, six had burned themselves out by Saturday night.
The Ten Mile fire — so named because it began 10 miles inside the park boundary — smoldered as a small fire of no more than 10 acres for weeks after lightning sparked it June 13.
During the unseasonably high temperatures and low humidity of last week’s heat wave, it flared into a blaze consuming hundreds of acres of forest.
It is now within 2 miles of the park boundary, along the Duckabush trail.
“It grew because upslope winds spread it across some very dry terrain, but right now there is no danger,” Abendroth said.
Two firefighters have been assigned to the fire. Wildlife surveys and fire-effects plots have been completed to monitor it.
National Weather Service meteorologist Johnny Burg said dry conditions in the Olympic Mountains were expected to continue through Wednesday afternoon.
Possibility of rain
He said there is a possibility of rain Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
“We aren’t really sure at this point how much to expect and if it will help extinguish those fires,” he said.
“The temperatures will cool to about the mid-70s by Wednesday, so that will help stabilize the atmosphere, so possibly there won’t be any thunderstorms, which would be good.”
A red flag warning was issued Saturday. Weather conditions Sunday did not call for a red flag, none was issued for Monday and one was not expected today.
“We are constantly monitoring whether that is needed,” Burg said.
The park has put a halt to campfires in the backcountry.
In developed campgrounds, campfires are still being allowed if established in designated fire rings.
The state Department of Natural Resources on Thursday rated fire danger as being high in both Clallam and Jefferson counties and banned all burning, except in approved fire pits, in both counties.
Fire management updates can be tracked on the Web at www.inciweb.org.
For trail closure information, phone 360-565-3100 or click on www.nps.gov/olym.
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Jefferson County reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Paige Dickerson contributed to this article.
