Lake Chelan, Lucerne and Holden Village protection are the focus of new firefighting team

Aerial fire retardant and water drops continue on the Pomas Fire, July 12. Photo courtesy: Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

It's dry and hot on the Pomas Fire in the Entiat River drainage. 600 firefighters are on the fire lines as the Chelan Valley experiences a heat advisory on Monday.

Helicopters made numerous water drops on the fire and inserted two helicopter personnel into a remote area of the fir on Sunday.

"We did finish some retardant line up on the north end of the fire," said Incident Command Public Information Officer Heather Applehoff. "That's was really critical to protect that area to the north, the community of Holden (Village). "We're not getting complacent. We are sending crews up Lake Chelan, into Lucerne and up into Holden Village to begin to take out some of those hazard trees and overgrown vegetation."

A new Incident Command team arrived on the fire over the weekend.

"We do have several members of the team that are very familiar with this topography, terrain and geography and are certainly very invested in protecting the values at risk in this area ," Applehoff added. A lot of people consider this (Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest) our home forest."

"There are some areas that are accessible by road, particularly the south end of the fire, and we have been going direct in there and have stopped the growth on that south end," Applehoff concluded.

Structure preparations have been completed on the upper Entiat River Road. Crews and heavy equipment are making progress removing excess vegetation and woody debris on that flank of the fire.

Use the QR code for the latest updates and photos on the Pomas Fire 2025 Facebook page

Pomas fire map rendered from aerial surveillance of the fire, July 12.

A wildfire continues to burn north of Kettle Falls in Stevens County and residents have been advised to leave the area.  The Hope Fire has burned more than 9 square miles, or about 6,300 acres.

The Western Pines Fire burning northeast of Davenport has grown to an estimated 6,000 acres, prompting expanded evacuations and an all-out firefighting effort. The Davenport-area fire is believed to be human-caused.