Wildfire threatens trails near Lake Wenatchee

MERRITT – Firefighters are responding to a fire located on the southeast slope of Shoofly Mountain, roughly 25 miles west of Lake Wenatchee, in the Wenatchee River Ranger District.

WildCad, a computer-aided dispatch system used by U.S. wildland fire agencies, reported the fire shortly after 2 p.m. on July 8. Watch Duty updated the size of the fire to 125 acres by 5:30 p.m. on July 9, with information from WildCad.

U.S. Forest Service (USFS) said it was implementing a full repression strategy with air and ground firefighting resources via Facebook on July 8. USFS reported Top Lake and Heather Lake Trails, accessed Forest Service Road 6701 off of Rainy Creek Road, were threatened. The Pacific Crest Trail, located about two miles west of the fire, was not threatened at the time of the update.

The cause and time at which the fire started has yet to be determined, according to USFS Public Affairs Specialist Deborah Kelly. This is a developing story and will continue to be updated.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media