Stayman Flats Fire burns Chelan Butte on Tuesday. Photo courtesy: Tara Paul.
It was a perfect storm. Extreme dry grass and brush ignited Tuesday afternoon near the end of Stayman Flats Road on the south side of Chelan Butte and north of the Columbia River. It's estimated that three-thousand acres was charred and the fire burned quickly.
"It did move fast because at the time it was really wind driven," described Chelan County Sheriff's Chief of Special Operations Ryan Moody. "If anyone is familiar with the back side of the butte, there's a lot of very dry grass, and it moved really quickly through that and got up to the top of the butte and crested over to the Lake Chelan side fairly quickly. That was at the same time too we started to get some air resources in and we able to at least slow down the fire at that point."
Chief Moody says as of late Tuesday night, the sheriff’s office issued a Level 2, Get ready, evacuation advisory in the area. Late Tuesday afternoon he says residents of roughly 140 homes were asked to leave their residence immediately.
Chelan firefighters with assistance from their mutual partners are keeping a watchful eye on the continued hot ground.
Chief Moody says fire investigators are following up on information in an attempt to determine a cause for the fire.
On the Stayman Flats Fire, firefighting pilots scoop water from Lake Chelan.
Photo courtesy: Erica Morgan.
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