Members of Quinault Nation Fire Management and the Washington Department of Natural Resources were deployed to fight a wildfire near Moclips that had spread to 50 acres as of Thursday morning.
Charred stumps and devastation stretched for hundreds of yards at the fire site, some still smoking, blending into the smoke and haze on Thursday morning as low clouds choked the morning sky.
“It’s about 50-some acres at this point,” said Rachel Lipski, a public information officer for the Western Washington Type 3 Incident Management Team in a phone interview on Thursday. “It seems to have calmed down overnight. With the winds not pushing too hard and it not getting too hot today, it shouldn’t get too much bigger.”
The fire was first spotted on Wednesday morning in the Margaritaville logging area, off of the Moclips Highway, when it had consumed about two acres of land, according to an Quinault Indian Nation news release.
“The fire was burning mostly in the cedar slash left over from the timber harvest,” Lipski said.
About 20 firefighters from the two organizations were engaged in fighting the wildfire on Thursday, with additional reinforcement expected from the National Park Service. Aerial assets were also deployed by DNR to help suppress the fire with water drops, including fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, according to the news release.
“The plan is to get the two helicopters up to do what they call bucket work,” Lipski said.
Dropping water on the fire helps cool it, Lipski said, allowing ground teams to deny the fire fuel and establish containment.
More air resources may be employed if the fire continues to grow, according to the news release. DNR is using infrared surveys to assess the fire behavior and forecast how it might continue to expand, according to the news release.
“The weather looks pretty good, but it is continuing to look hotter and drier in the forecast,” Lipski said.
Standing up the incident command team means that efforts to combat the spread of the fire can be smoothly scaled up if necessary, Lipski said. A fire investigation is looking into the cause of the wildfire, Lipski said.
Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.
A wildfire near Moclips in a timber area spread fast through old cedar leavings from forestry. (Michael S. Lockett / The Daily World)
A fire in a timber area near Moclips spread rapidly before being brought mostly under control on Thursday. (Michael S. Lockett / The Daily World)
Firefighters fought a wildfire in a logging area near Moclips beginning Wednesday. (Michael S. Lockett / The Daily World)
About 50 acres were torched in a wildfire near Moclips beginning Wednesday. (Michael S. Lockett / The Daily World)
Low clouds briefly impeded aerial operations against a wildfire near Moclips on Thursday morning. (Michael S. Lockett / The Daily World)
Quinault Nation Fire Management and Department of Natural Resources firefighters worked beginning on Wednesday to control a wildfire near Moclips. (Michael S. Lockett / The Daily World)
