Despite the heavy rainfall that swept the Olympic Peninsula over the weekend, the Bear Gulch Fire remains ablaze and is still only 3% contained.
The human-caused fire started on July 6 and has burned through 8,368 acres as of Sunday. It’s primarily burning within the Olympic National Park near Lake Cushman.
Numerous roads, trails and campgrounds in the southeast portion of the park remain closed.
A weather system brought 3 inches of unseasonal rain to the peninsula on Friday. While the rainfall helped reduce the fire, it didn’t have the impact officials hoped it would because the moisture from the rain only reached the surface level, a Sunday update from the incident command staff said.
It did, however, cause an increase in smoke.
“The main concern (is) that we are forecasting increases in smoke that are flowing down into the Lake Cushman area,” Operations Section Chief Derek Steidley said in a video update Sunday morning.
Based on the forecast, the smoke shouldn’t travel much, said Logan Howard, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
“It doesn’t look like (the smoke is) going to get very far outside of the immediate vicinity, kind of the Lake Cushman area,” he said.
The weather in the area remained “cool, humid, and stable,” with smoky air and foggy conditions, the update said.
Olympic National Park was forecast to see a high of 66 and rainy conditions on Sunday, the National Weather Service said. The cooler temperatures were expected to carry into Monday with a high of 64 and a slight chance of afternoon rain.
But drier and warmer conditions ahead may cause more fire activity as the week progresses, the update reads.
The biggest concern is fire moving under the trees. The smoke could weaken trees, causing them to fall and spread the fire, officials said.
“The fire is expected to continue smoldering and slowly moving under the trees,” officials said in the incident update. “Small flames can be visible burning in heavy fuels.”
Fire crews will focus on risk assessment in the wilderness to determine prevention measures, Steidley said.
As wildfire season continues, five active large fires encompassing about 14,000 acres are burning in Oregon and Washington, the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center said in a post on Sunday.
