Firefighters face growing Little Giant Fire, new Dirty Face Fire

LEAVENWORTH —- The Little Giant Fire, located in the Chiwawa River Drainage, has reached over 7,500 acres as of Friday, July 24.

The fire was started by lightning on July 15, and sits approximately 30 miles northwest of Leavenworth. According to officials, the fire currently has a dozer, grader, two masticators, two water tenders and a 21-person crew assigned to it. Incident command is scheduled to transfer to a new Complex Incident Management Team, California Team 2, over the weekend.

According to the Friday update, the fire has moved south along the west side of the Chiwawa River, reaching the ridge south of Schaefer Lake. Fire along the east side of the Chiwawa River Road spread from Rock Creek to Finney Creek. It is approaching the Basalt Ridge Trail and moving up toward Basalt Peak to the east.

There are currently no immediate threats to structures or other resources, according to officials.

Crews are continuing to work and remove vegetation along the Community Protection Line toward Twin Lakes and Chiwawa Ridge. Structure protection and fuel removal is occurring with homeowners at Huckleberry Flats. On Thursday, crews cut out fallen trees along the Chiwawa Road for evacuation of the Trinity mine site, which has already been structurally protected.

Chiwawa Road above Chikamin Creek Road and Phelps Creek Road are closed, as well as trails off the 6200 Road. Level 2 fire restrictions are still in effect for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

Updates on the Little Giant Fire can be found on Facebook, by emailing, or by calling the information line between the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 509-776-6953.

Chelan County Emergency Management has issued a Level 3 (Go Now) evacuation order from Trinity to Chikamin Ridge Road. A Level 2 (Be Prepared) advisory has been extended from Chikamin Ridge Road to Twin Creek Road. A Level 1 (Stay Alert) order begins at Twin Creek Road and ends at Alder Creek. A map of current evacuation advisories can be found on the Chelan County Incidents Map.

Additional Fires

Six miles west of Merritt, the Nason Ridge Fire has remained at five acres, reaching 100 percent containment.

More recently, Wednesday’s storm started the Dirty Face Fire, which is estimated at one to two acres as of Friday, July 24. The fire received several buckets of water from a helicopter on Thursday. Fire managers are assessing safety factors for putting firefighters on it, due to the alignment of the drainage proximity to the Little Giant Fire and its behavior, according to officials.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media