Chelan County Stressing That Stehekin is Not Open For Visitors

Chelan County Emergency Management is trying to spread the word that the town of Stehekin is not open for tourism.  

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Evacuation notices for the Pioneer Fire were reduced from Level 3 to Level 2 Sunday at noon for Stehekin Valley, which means the area is now only open to residents and property owners. 

Chelan County Emergency Management spokesperson Jill FitzSimmons says there have been numerous attempts to visit the town lately. 

"About 20 people headed up to Stehekin on private boats on Saturday," said FitzSimmons. "There were also people looking for gas, that sort of thing. So, we’re just reminding people that that’s something we can’t do right now.”  

The incident management team at the fire says hazards continue to exist even with the drop in evacuation levels, and there are still uncontained fire lines. 

Anybody who ventures into the area by boat is being advised that there’s no gasoline for sale in Stehekin as it’s all being used by fire crews. 

Incident Commander Lonnie Click for Northwest Incident Management Team 3 said they’re working diligently to try to mitigate and limit the spread of the Pioneer Fire but have yet to completely remove the fire hazard. Level 2 evacuations mean there’s still some risk of the fire venturing into the town. 

Click said as they continue to get more fire lines secured, they’ll reassess the danger and risk to the public and address any changes in the future. He said the current restrictions are in place for the safety of the public and the firefighters on the scene.  

Watch a video from fire personel here and below.