Summer thunderstorm sparks quickly suppressed fire on Tumwater Mountain

LEAVENWORTH - Despite the unusually cool start to summer in the Upper Wenatchee Valley this year, the thunderstorms that rolled through the area on Wednesday morning, June 26, followed by the distinctive hum of a circling helicopter, presented a stark reminder that fire season is in full swing.

An early morning lightning strike ignited a small blaze on Tumwater Mountain, prompting an immediate response from local fire crews and aerial firefighting teams.

During the storms, Matthew Kennedy, Assistant Fire Management Officer of the Wenatchee River Ranger District, was monitoring a lightning strike map and then visually inspecting the strike areas when he saw smoke rising from Tumwater Mountain, which flanks the entry of Tumwater Canyon on the west end of Leavenworth.

When it was determined that cliff bands and rough terrain would impede ground crews from reaching the fire a few hundred feet below the summit, “we called dispatch and asked for aerial-delivered firefighters - rappellers in this case,” reports Kennedy. “We got a pretty quick response from Wenatchee, and soon after, a crew of four and their equipment were helicoptered to the site and rappelled in.”

The tenth-acre fire was quickly contained, and the crew spent the night on the mountain to ensure its suppression.

Despite the rapid response and containment efforts, the incident underscores the potential dangers posed by summer thunderstorms and human-caused fires in the region. The region has already seen, among other wildfires, a conflagration up No. 2 Canyon in Wenatchee and the ongoing Pioneer Fire burning 30 miles north of Chelan, which has already consumed almost 5,000 acres.

The Forest Service emphasizes the importance of preparedness and vigilance during these dry months. A report by the Service several years ago placed Leavenworth at the top of cities in the Northwest exposed to “cumulative risk of wildfire.” 

The National Fire Protection Association provides a wildfire safety tips sheet on its safety information page:

https://www.nfpa.org/downloadable-resources/safety-tip-sheets/how-to-prepare-your-home-for-wildfires

Caroline Menna is an intern for Ward Media and a rising senior (Class of 2025) at Cascade High School. She will serve as Editor-in-Chief of the Cascade High School Publications Group for the 2024-2025 academic year.