WENATCHEE — A late-season wildfire, dubbed the Squilchuck Road Fire, burned more than 200 acres Sunday afternoon below Wenatchee Heights.
Investigators believe the fire began after a burn pile grew out of control on the 3200 block of Squilchuck Road, according to Wenatchee Valley Fire Department Chief Brian Brett. It was one of the few areas in the Wenatchee Valley that appears to have been previously untouched by fire.
“The unique thing about where this fire burned is we don’t have any known fire history in this area,” Brett said, noting there were “heavy sage fuels.”
The fire was reported at about 2:15 p.m. and Level 3 evacuations — leave now — were issued to nearby homes on Wenatchee Heights at 3:45 p.m. Other homes were placed under Level 2 — get ready.
The fire burned approximately 216 acres, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
No structures were damaged and no one was injured, Brett said.
After crews made progress to contain the fire, all evacuation levels were lowered to Level 1 — be aware — at noon Monday. Hand crews, dozers and a helicopter were working to complete containment of the fire.
“We still have some active fire within the perimeter but it should all be lined out by the end of the day,” Brett said.
A Type 3 incident management team was brought in Monday to relieve local crews.
Significant wildfires in mid-October are uncommon, but not unheard of. A broken tailpipe sparked a fire along Highway 2/97 on Nov. 1, 2017, that burned 1,100 between roughly the Hot Rod Cafe and Sunnyslope.
Called the Monitor Fire, it was the latest fire since a Nov. 6, 1992, fire in the same area burned about 200 acres after an orchardist’s burn pile grew out of control.
