Yellow Pages
Three of four known wildfires burning in Skagit County over the Independence Day weekend were close to being mopped up Monday, July 6 by firefighters.
The fourth blaze, the 123-acre Panther Creek fire in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area, still burned and was being watched but not fought, said Kerry Olson, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service.
Rainfall Monday morning, as well as a drop in unseasonably hot weather, helped cool the Panther Creek blaze, as well as the other fires, said both state and federal fire officials.
“The weather definitely made a big difference,” said David Roberts, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources, which was handling the three other fires.
Although the Panther Creek fire has cooled since the weekend, Olson said she expected that it would smolder throughout the summer.
“Wildfires are usually put out by season ending events,” such as heavy rains or snowfall, Olson said. “I anticipate we’ll need to watch and monitor throughout the summer. It will be on our radar for the next couple months.”
Lightning ignited the Panther Creek blaze and federal officials were allowing it to burn because fire can be beneficial to the Cascades’ ecosystem and the flames weren’t threatening human lives or property, according to the park service. Firefighters have closed the Panther Creek Trail and wrapped a bridge with fire resistant material to protect it, Olson said.
Also, firefighters Monday contained the 21-acre fire on the northeastern face of Mount Cavanaugh, about a mile west of Lake Cavanaugh, Roberts said.
State crews finished mopping up a 7-acre fire near Sumner Lake, about five miles west of the Mount Cavanaugh blaze, and a three-quarter acre fire on the south side of Devil’s Mountain, just east of Mount Vernon, Roberts said.
About 150 people worked on the three fires, which were all caused by humans, he said. The exact cause was under investigation Monday; however, firefighters say that the proximity of the outbreaks of the fires to the Independence Day weekend makes fireworks suspect.
Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2149 or .
