TROUT LAKE — The Williams Mine Fire on the southwest flank of Mount Adams in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest has grown to more than 10,500 acres. Officials reported Tuesday that firefighters have established a southern containment line and stopped southerly movement of the blaze.
Water-scooping aircraft are dipping from Swift Reservoir on the North Fork Lewis River and from the Columbia River near Lyle in Klickitat County.
A spot fire started west of Trout Lake-Randle road No. 23, but crews suppressed the quarter-acre blaze.
Crews are working spot fires around Snipes Mountain, but the terrain is difficult to access due to so many snags from previous fires.
According to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, 281,852 acres in Washington have burned so far this year in more than 1,300 fires across the state.
This is the fourth major fire on Mount Adams in two decades.
The Cold Springs Fire in 2008 burned 7,993 acres. In 2012, the Cascade Creek Fire burned more than 20,000 acres between the Aiken Lava Bed and Riley Creek.
The huge Cougar Creek Fire in 2015 burned more than 54,000 acres, much of it on the east side of Mount Adams, which belongs to the Yakama Indian Nation.
In total, most of the middle slopes west, south and east sides of the 12,309-foot peak have burned.
The Mount Adams Wilderness area is closed, along with national forest land east of roads No. 23 and 2329. That includes Takhlakh Lake campground.
The Washington Department of Natural Resources has closed its lands in the Trout Lake and Glenwood areas.
