'It kinda looked like a moonscape' - Little Giant Fire property damage assessment
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
A new property damage assessment from the more than month-old Little Giant Fire was released Monday afternoon. An estimated 135,005 acres has been charred by the lightening caused wild land fire, as of Monday night.
"We've determined at least 35 total structures were lost," said Chelan County Sheriff's Operations Services Chief Ryan Moody. "Of those 35, two were primary resident homes, 13 were secondary homes, or cabins, and then there were 20+ outbuildings that were damaged."
Chelan County Sheriff’s Emergency Management Supervisor, Sgt. Jason Reinfeld toured the interior of the Little Giant Fire with Entiat firefighters and members of the county Assessor’s Office to determine an accurate assessment of fire loss.
"I've definitely seen a lot of burned out areas before," said Reinfeld. "Up by the Snow Park at milepost 25 (on the Entiat River Road) it looks like it burned really quite hot through there. It kinda looked like a moonscape."
The perfect storm of wind-whipped weather rushed through the Entiat River Valley on Friday, Aug. 7 and Saturday, Aug. 8, causing most of the destruction.
"Most of the homes in that area have metal roofs, and essentially (the fire) destroyed the burned out structures," recounted Reinfeld. "Typically, it was just the metal roofing on the ground and everything else was burned out."
Reinfeld added that sporadic structures appeared to be untouched.
A valuation on what was lost will be determined by the Assessor.
As of Monday afternoon, 272 structures were within Level 3 evacuation zones, most in the Entiat River Valley.
A portion of the fire on the south shore of Lake Chelan, around 25 Mile Creek, was reduced to a Level 2 "get ready to leave" fire evacuation advisory by Chelan County Emergency Management on Sunday. On the north shore of Lake Chelan, the previous Level 1 "get set" advisory was eliminated, and the previous Level 2 and Level 3 have each been downgraded by one level.
Favorable weather conditions have permitted firefighters to make significant progress on the fire.
What has worked best due to the topography in the wilderness areas from the south shore of Lake Chelan , south to Lake Wenatchee has been back-firing operations where firefighters deliberately light fire to create a wide swath of blackened ground to hold the main fire from growing.
"Those operations are going very slowly and methodically," said fire incident command information officer Heather Applehof. "Tying the back-firing into an existing road or dozer line, so we're getting some good, cold black along that Chiwawa River Road."
As many as 300 firefighters from Australia and New Zealand have arrived at the new Chelan fire camp to assist with the Little Giant Fire.
"I'm really looking forward to getting out there and mixing with our colleagues," said firefighter Peter Hay.
"We really enjoy coming to the U.S. to help out when you guys are in need," said Boyd Townsend.
An informational meeting is being held beginning at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday night at the Lake Wenatchee Recreation Club in Leavenworth. You can attend the meeting in person or virtually, here.
The latest assessment of the Little Giant Fire highlights the significant impact of the lightning-caused wildfire, with more than 135,000 acres affected and numerous homes, cabins, and outbuildings damaged or destroyed. Officials and emergency personnel conducted detailed inspections to better understand the extent of the losses and document the areas most severely affected. The description of the burned landscape as resembling a “moonscape” emphasizes how intense the fire was in certain locations. In a different area of digital development, businesses affected by changing market conditions can also benefit from a custom Shopify store to establish a flexible online presence and provide customers with convenient access to products and services.