The East Beach Road Fire near Lake Crescent is slowly growing in size, emergency responders said Friday afternoon.
The forest fire — on the north shore of Lake Crescent near East Beach Road …
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The East Beach Road Fire near Lake Crescent is slowly growing in size, emergency responders said Friday afternoon.
The forest fire — on the north shore of Lake Crescent near East Beach Road — was discovered around 4 p.m. Wednesday and was initially estimated at 63 acres.
Officials now say the fire has spread across 65 acres.
As of Friday afternoon, none of the fire area had been contained.
Officials with the Western Washington Type 3 Incident Management Team took over the management of the fire response at noon Friday. The team is composed of multi-agency firefighters from across Western Washington who specialize in managing wildland fires.
The fire is located within the boundaries of Olympic National Park, and officials said earlier they suspect it was started by visitors.
The response so far includes three helicopters, five fire engines, two water tenders, and three other pieces of heavy equipment, plus two timber fallers and five hand crews. A total of 125 personnel have been sent so far to fight the fire.
The Western Washington Type 3 Incident Management Team is working with the National Park Service and Washington Department of Natural Resources to "develop a plan to fully suppress the fire and minimize its impact on the landscape," officials said.
The plan for fighting the fire Friday will focus on access at the north end of the fire from old logging roads.
Firefighters will continue to arrive throughout Friday and start working on securing a line around the fire, officials said.
The blaze has prompted road closures in Olympic National Park, including East Beach Road between Highway 101 to Log Cabin Resort; access to East Beach Road between Highway 101 and Log Cabin Resort is being restricted to local residents only.
Log Cabin Resort is still operating, officials said, and anyone trying to gain access to Log Cabin Resort will need to take Highway 112 to Piedmont Road.
Day use recreation sites along East Beach Road in Olympic National Park have been closed to the public.
Agencies involved in putting out the fire include Olympic National Park, Department of Natural Resources Olympic Region, Olympic Interagency Fire Management, Clallam County Sheriff’s Department and Emergency Services.
