Spromberg Fire threatens homes

A fire in the Chumstick which started in the Brender Log Yard could have been much worse, but quick actions by fire crews help contain the blaze. 

Chelan County Fire District 3 rigs responded shortly after noon on May 23. In past years, CCFD3 had responded to the cedar log yard before, from spontaneous combustion of sawdust piles. When they arrived on scene this time, it was much bigger than before. 

The first units on scene saw a log deck on fire. 

“Our initial response, we essentially drained our fire station with all the equipment except for the ladder truck. We called immediately for a second alarm and tried to contain it to the cedar log yard,” said CCFD3 Fire Chief, Kelly O’Brien. “The second alarm brings in resources from down the valley. When I arrived on incident and assumed control about 1 p.m., I called for a third alarm. We tried to continue to maintain it inside the cedar log yard.”

CCFD3 received a lot of help from the Department of Natural Resources, Forest Service and the Entiat Hot Shot crew. At some point during the firefight, there was a wind shift to the north, which pushed the fire onto the north part of the log deck. 

“We tried to hold that at Spromberg Canyon and not allow it to cross that road. It actually jumped to the other end of that log deck. It was just out of our reach. We tried to get an initial knockdown on it and saw rather quickly that wasn’t going to happen,” O’Brien said. 

At that point, it because necessary to issue a Level 3 evacuation notice to residents of Spromberg Canyon, because the fire could have blocked the canyon entrance. 

O’Brien said they got all their units out of the log deck area. The winds then shifted and started blowing to the east. That’s when they started to see the spot fires across Chumstick Highway and across Chumstick Creek on the ridge. 

“The winds are about 35 mph. Luckily that night, we were able to get a line around two of the spots. We extinguished two more. The shot crew had the most difficult spot partially lined that night. We were able to secure that line with retardant drops,” O’Brien said. “At 4:30 p.m., I asked for state mobilization, which was approved.”

CCFD3 staffed the fire overnight. Certainly, with the high winds, controlling the spot fires was very difficult. 

“We had over 200 responders on the incident, CCFD3, CCFD9, CCFD6. Districts all the way from Wenatchee and Chelan. The Forest Service had two helicopters. It took an all out coordinated effort to keep that fire at bay,” O’Brien said. “The other factor is, we’re still in a damp part of the year. We haven’t quite hit summer. We’re still in green up. The fire burning like that was really wind driven.”

O’Brien said the log deck fire was incredible, extremely hot. Once those log decks get going, you can’t fight that fire, he said. 

“You’re basically just surrounding that area, trying to keep it from spreading. Where it is located, there is not water supply to keep a constant flow,” O’Brien said. “We made the decision once the fire became very established in there. Out of firefighter safety, we felt it was best to let it burn and focus on the spotting.”

Because the fire was very close to the railroad track, Burlington Northern Santa Fe was notified. A BNSF representative came out. O’Brien said they requested some water train cars, something they’ve know about for a long time, but never used. 

It turned out to be a huge help. 

“We’ve never used it, but they have it. They bring in a track grinder to clean the tracks. They use the water to make sure the track grinding doesn’t start any fires,” O’Brien said. 

The Brender Log Yard has been an ongoing fire concern for many years. Now, it’s gone. 

“Anytime you get a build up of fuels like that it is going to be a concern. It’s been out there a long time. We had to mitigate in ‘94 with the big fires because there was the ash falling,” O’Brien said. 

By the next morning, O’Brien turned over management of the fire to a Type 3 local level fire management team. 

“From that point forward, crews were able to make good progress on the spot fires east of Chumstick Highway. They continued to try to cool and maintain a good perimeter on the log deck,” said Annie Schmidt, Spromberg Fire information officer. “They did that for a couple reasons. They did not want that producing any embers that could move into wildlands. Two, they wanted to keep a safe firefighting environment. They needed access on the railroad tracks.”

A lot of effort went into securing the perimeter to reduce the amount of heat from the log deck, which is going to have be addressed moving forward, she said. 

May 25 was calm day. They continued to see firefighters making success on spot fires east of Chumstick Highway. It was fully lined. By May 26, the fire was considered 93 percent contained. 

Certainly, the cooling conditions on May 24 and 25 helped the firefighting effort. 

“Definitely, as of Friday, we had 120 people on it. We’ve had a downward trend on resources. We had about 200 initially. That doesn’t reflect we can’t get the resources we need, not in May. It reflects the progress being made on the fire and the type of resources that we need are changing,” Schmidt said. “In the beginning, it was engine crews. Now, we utilizing eight tenders. There’s generally one person on a water tender. We’re just changing the resources to fit the environment we have.”

When the fire began, Spromberg Canyon was on Level 2 evacuation notice. Once the fire jumped from the south end of the log pile to the north side and crossed over the road, the evacuation level for Spromberg went to Level 3. 

On the first day, Sunitsch Canyon was Level 2, down to Eagle Creek Road, which was Level 1. BNSF traffic was stopped as was traffic on the Chumstick. 

“We’ve seen a continuing trend of reducing the number of evacuations. At one point, it was Level 3 for Spromberg and Sunitsch and Eagle Creek. That has trended downward. The only advisory now is Spromberg Level 2,” Schmidt said. 

Rumor was also flying around at the time the city of Leavenworth was Level 1. Schmidt said that was not true. 

“I don’t know where that information came from. When it was it issued as an advisory down to the junction of US2, that is the point where those wires got crossed. Leavenworth was never on any advisory. I heard that rumor,” she said. 

Certainly the cool weather and greening grasses aided the firefight. Schmidt said she talked to someone fighting the two large spot fires on the first couple days. 

“He said the fire was pretty active even on the first day. It’s extraordinarily steep, sandy, rocky soil. Seeing activity in brush and pine litter, not necessarily in the grasses which are still greening up,” Schmidt said. “On the 24th, the fire behavior really moderated. That was good. Cooler temps helped. We’re getting good recovery in the relative humidity at night. All of that means cooler temps and more moisture in the air, which is great for mitigating fire behavior.”

There were two large excavators coming in to move around material in the log yard, to allow firefighters to access the hot spots. Annie Schmidt is formerly the head of the Chumstick Wildfire Coalition. She knows only too well what might have happened if this fire had taken place during the heat of summer. 

“I think had this happened in late July or August, we would have had a very different outcome and we would be talking about a lot more fire for a lot longer duration. Thirty mph winds are never good in that drainage when there is a fire on the ground,” she said. “When you combine what we saw there with the amount of fuel present in the log yard, had this happened in a period of sustained higher temperatures, it would have been a catastrophe.”

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.