Firefighters dousing the East Beach Road Fire at Lake Crescent have moved into the mop-up phase of the operation, officials said Thursday.
Three hand crews are working to mitigate and manage the falling trees and debris that have been affected by the 84-acre blaze in Olympic National Park.
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Firefighters dousing the East Beach Road Fire at Lake Crescent have moved into the mop-up phase of the operation, officials said Thursday.
Three hand crews are working to mitigate and manage the falling trees and fire debris that has been left by the 84-acre blaze in Olympic National Park.
In a Thursday update, officials with the Western Washington
Type 3 Incident Management Team said 75 percent of the fire zone had been contained, an improvement over the 65 percent that had been brought under control Wednesday.
The fire is still smoldering, officials said, despite rainfall in the Lake Crescent area overnight.
"Hot spots" remain in the footprint of the fire, which is on a steep and heavily timbered slope on the north end of the lake.
Large trees and "duff" — the floor of the forest that's made up of fallen leaves, branches, and other debris — along with an understory of brush has been the main fuel for the fire, which authorities believe came from a human source.
The origin of the blaze, however, is still under investigation.
Officials said the steep, hazardous terrain — and some of the hot spots — remains inaccessible for fire personnel.
Two fire engines and 84 responders are still fighting the fire.
Not all of the clouds visible in the Lake Crescent area are coming from smoke from the fire, though.
Officials said some of the wispy-looking clouds are actually "water dogs"; the term that firefighters use to describe the low cloud cover that settles into hills and valleys as cooler wet weather returns to the region.
