OLYMPIC NATIONAL FOREST — Firefighters completed 172 water drops Saturday, and drops continued Sunday in an attempt to slow the spread of the Big Hump Fire, which grew to more than 1,150 acres of The Brothers Wilderness in the Olympic Mountains over the weekend.
The fire grew north and northwest away from Brinnon and inward, burning areas inside the fire boundary that had escaped earlier, said Elizabeth Shepard, spokeswoman for the Central Oregon Incident Management Team which is leading the firefight.
Fire managers inspected the east flank and identified a ridge that could be used for the construction of a contingency hand-dug fire line, Shepard said.
Firefighters continued working through temperatures in the low 90s and low humidity during the day.
Later this week, firefighters will be assisted by lower temperatures and higher humidity, according to National Weather Service forecasts.
The fire is located in Olympic National Forest 10 miles southwest of Brinnon, five miles from the Duckabush River Trail’s eastern trailhead about 16 miles southeast of Port Angeles.
The Big Hump Fire is named for a high point known as the “big hump” on the Duckabush River Trail.
A fire map, updated several times each day is available at http://tinyurl.com/pdnbighump.
The incident management team’s strategy for the blaze is to allow it to burn until rain quenches it.
Firefighters and three helicopters remain to keep the fire contained in an area that does not threaten homes or Olympic National Park until a rainstorm puts it out.
The fire has remained low, burning dead underbrush and forest litter, with only relatively few trees burned, fire officials said.
No crews are on the ground to fight the fire, which is located in steep, rugged terrain among second-growth and old-growth Douglas fir, cedar and hemlock.
The combined conditions on the Big Hump Fire of inaccessibility, very steep terrain, rolling debris and falling trees are unacceptable safety risks to firefighters, fire officials said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
