Looking toward Dog Mountain from Falls Road. / Courtesy photo by Miriam DeShasier
Updated at 7:09 p.m. and 8:33 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A large wind-fueled wildfire that started east of Morton this afternoon has spread and is still growing.
Seven fire departments plus firefighters from the state department of Natural Resources are on the scene on Dog Mountain, at the east end of Riffe Lake.
Various reports have suggested the blaze is as large as 200 to 700 acres, but a spokesperson from DNR said the fire was within a 100-acre perimeter but very patchy and spotty.
Only about 10 acres is actually fire, Karen Ripley of DNR said after speaking with the incident commander about 7 p.m.
“There’s a lot of fuel in the area, but not a lot of it has dried out” Ripley said.
Ripley said the Dog Mountain Fire on land owned by Port Blakely is in an area both recently logged and with 8-year-old trees.
Lt. Laura Hanson from Lewis County Fire District 5 said the initial call came in at 1:22 p.m. More than 50 firefighters are working the fire, according to Hanson.
The Taidnapam Park area has been evacuated, but no structures are threatened, according to Hanson.
The incident commander told Ripley the wind is beginning to die down. She said crews would likely be out there for a couple of days.
Dog Mountain, just south of Glenoma, is known as a favorite spot for hang gliders.
Miriam DeShasier, who lives in Glenoma, took a drive down Falls Road this afternoon and said it appears the east side of Dog Mountain was burning.
“A lot of the smoke is gone from the area now,” DeShasier said this evening.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter