PORT ANGELES — The Lake Sutherland fire west of Port Angeles was 90 percent contained as of Friday, according to crews that have been fighting the blaze since last weekend.
Western Washington Type 3 Incident Management Team said Friday morning that the fire was mostly contained and that thanks to better mapping, the amount of acres burned is 96, down from the 108 previously reported.
The fire is 13 miles west of Port Angeles off U.S. Highway 101 near the Joyce Access Road, located entirely on state Department of Natural Resources land. It was first reported at 1 p.m. last Saturday and crews have been working through the week on containing the fire.
Later Friday, a DNR reconnaissance plane was expected to fly over the fire with an infrared camera that can live-stream directly to fire managers.
The data gathered was to be used for locating hot spots, fire break breaches and fire activity.
With the fire mostly contained, some crews are being sent back to their regular units and on Saturday command of firefighting operations will be turned back over to local crews.
The interagency Western Washington Type 3 Incident Management Team has been in command of the effort since Monday.
There are no road or trail closures in the area but a temporary flight restriction remains in place.
Travelers to the area are asked to exercise increased caution while driving as firefighters and equipment are operating in the area.
Four homes have been at the lowest level of evacuation advisory all week.
Authorities have noted the fire is early in the state’s wildfire season, and have asked homeowners located near forest areas to take steps to protect their homes from fire danger.
Both Clallam and Jefferson counties enacted burn restrictions earlier than expected this year, citing dry conditions.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsula dailynews.com.
