OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — A flurry of small bush fires sparked by a lightning storm have continued to smolder in Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest, although none of them had grown to more than 2 acres in size, according to a joint press release from the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service.
The agencies coordinated efforts with local responders on the fires, which are 85 percent to 100 percent contained although they continued to smolder through the weekend.
The Aug. 16 lightning storm, which had dozens of strikes on the ground and minimal rain, started at least eight fires on the Peninsula and numerous others on Vancouver Island.
The largest one on the Peninsula is the Cold Creek Fire at 2 acres about 1½ miles northwest of Beaver Lake. It was listed Saturday as 85 percent contained.
Olympic National Park Fire Information Officer Jared Low said Sunday that with the recent rain, “the situation hasn’t changed, and fire activity diminished quite a bit with the rain.”
The other fires sparked by the lightning storms include:
Pyramid Fire, 0.1 acres, 1 miles north of Lake Crescent on Pyramid Peak Ridge, 100 percent contained.
Aurora Ridge, 0.1 acres, Aurora Ridge, 1½ miles south of Fairholme, 100 percent contained.
Sore Thump, 0.25 acres, Sol Duc River draining, 5 miles west of Sol Duc Hot Springs, 95 percent contained.
Sitkum, 0.6 acres, Sitkum River drainage, 2 miles east of Forest Road 29, 80 percent contained.
Bogachiel, 0.2 acres, Bogachiel River drainage, 4 miles east of U.S. Highway 101, 95 percent contained.
Elk Horn, no size estimate, west of Bailey Range, being monitored.
Mount Lena, 0.5 acres, 0.5 miles east of Lena Lake, 90 percent contained.
No trail closures are in place. Fire information will be updated if the conditions change, the joint press release stated.
Also, East Beach Road remains closed because debris continues to come down off the steep slope to the northeast due to the 84-acre fire that ignited on that ridge in late July. Fire officials stated weeks ago that fire would likely smolder all summer. It is listed at 98 percent contained.
Log Cabin Resort is still operating and can be accessed via state Highway 112 and the Joyce-Piedmont Road. All day-use recreation sites along East Beach Road in Olympic National Park are closed.
Local residents can access their properties up to 2 miles west of U.S. Highway 101 or from Log Cabin Resort.
