Major New High Level Evacuations Added to Fire at Lake Chelan

A large, new portion of the Twenty-Five Mile Fire at Lake Chelan is now under the most intense evacuation status.

The length of 1st Creek Road, which is west of Lake Chelan State Park, is under a Level 3 (Go Now) condition, as is most fire's footprint along and east of Lakeshore Road to the north

Ryan Rodruck with the response team says weather patterns Tuesday afternoon led to the major changes.

"We've had some challenges with the wind and fire behavior," said Rodruck. "That's why we requested that the sheriff issue those level 3 evacuations.

The new evacuation area reflects an expansion of the fire south along Lakeshore Road, to the point where it's now across the lake from the town of Manson.

Rodruck says the new designation was put in place for a couple of reasons.

"That is not only for the protection of the residents, but so we can get firefighting equipment and personnel in and out of that area," Rodruck said.

Here are the exact evacuation notices as of Tuesday night according to Chelan County Emergency Management:

·        Level 3 (Go!) evacuation levels are on South
Lakeshore Road, from its north end to and including 11690 South Lakeshore Road.
This includes all roads above and below South Lakeshore Road in this area.

·        Level 3 evacuation levels remain on Shady Pass
Road, First Creek Road and Granite Falls Road (and those roads off of Granite
Falls Road).

·        Level 2 (Get Set) evacuation levels are on South
Lakeshore Road from 11690 South Lakeshore Road to Granite Falls Road. This
includes all road above and below South Lakeshore Road in this area.

·        Level 1 (Get Ready) evacuation levels are on
South Lakeshore Road from Granite Falls Road to Navarre Coulee Road. This
includes all roads above and below the roadway in this area.

·        There are NO evacuation levels on Navarre Coulee
Road.

There are NO evacuation levels on Navarre Coulee Road.

About 300 people are working on the Twenty-Five Mile Fire at Lake Chelan, which is now threatening more than 135 homes and buildings. As of Tuesday evening, one house had been destroyed.

The was burning almost 7,000 acres, up from almost 4,300 acres, and was 0% contained.