Pioneer fire within quarter-mile of Stehekin in Chelan County

SEATTLE — A blast of hot, windy weather will challenge the nearly 730 firefighters battling the 55-square-mile Pioneer wildfire this week, which has crept to about a quarter-mile from the boat-in resort town of Stehekin on the northern shore of Lake Chelan, fire officials said.

By Monday morning, the fire had “stalled” in the upper slopes above the town of about 80 year-round residents, according to fire officials. The blaze is threatening about 300 residences and caused one firefighter to be taken off duty because of a heat-related illness within the past 24 hours, Northwest Interagency Coordination Center spokesperson Brad Bramlett said. No other injuries or illnesses have been reported, he said.

Firefighters are using five helicopters to dump water over flames and have placed about 27 miles of hose line and sprinklers — about half the distance of Lake Chelan — to protect the Stehekin area, said the interagency team’s operations planning chief, Travis Ederer, in a statement Monday.

Some residents said they have chosen to ignore a July 28 “Get out now!” evacuation notice from Chelan County authorities so they can protect their homes and support firefighting efforts. Officials can’t force people to leave their homes.

Temperatures in the Central Washington town are expected to reach the 90s and upper 80s through Sunday, with wildfire smoke clouding the sky and degrading air quality, according to the National Weather Service. The heat, along with wind gusts of about 30 mph, the dry vegetation and steep terrain, could make it harder for firefighters to combat the blaze, which has been scorching the eastern side of Lake Chelan since early June, Bramlett said.

While wind poses the biggest threat, high heat drying out such fuels as pine needles, leaves and twigs “can make the conditions for fire growth that much more dire,” Bramlett said. It’s unclear whether firefighters will be able to keep the fire from breaching the town.

“A lot of it depends on what the weather conditions, specifically the wind, does in that area,” Bramlett said. “What the crews are doing now are laying eyes on it, with boots on the ground, and watching to see what it does.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.