Little Giant Fire Surpasses 51,000 Acres As Crews Work To Knock Out Blaze It Spawned On Lake Chelan’s North Side

A wildfire that's been burning on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in Chelan County for over two weeks has now surpassed 50,000 acres.

The Little Giant Fire was sparked by a lightning strike on July 15 in the Chiwawa River Drainage, and has since grown to a current estimated size of 51,298 acres with 0% containment as of late Monday (Aug. 3) morning.

Over the weekend, the blaze spread rapidly in wind gusts of up to 50 mph under a Red Flag Warning, prompting new evacuations for the south side of Lake Chelan.

The starchy winds also blew embers from the fire zone across the lake, where a spot fire ignited roughly 25 miles northwest of Manson, causing additional evacuations to be issued for numerous campgrounds and a handful of homes.

Officials with the U.S. Forest Service say crews made an approach to the spot fire's location using a boat with the intent of directly attacking the flames on Sunday, but were unable to do so because of steep and rugged terrain.

Instead, crews using both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft to perform strategic water drops in an effort to suppress the spot fire near the Safety Harbor Campground.

Forest officials say firefighters will make further attempts to access the spot fire from the ground to start the week so that a strategy for direct engagement to suppress it can get underway.

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Meanwhile, the main body of the blaze was most active on its east side through the weekend, as it made fiery inroads along the landscape east of Grouse Mountain and northwest of Twenty-Five Mile Creek State Park.

Across the fire zone to the west, crews continued their efforts to forge containment lines near Baldy Mountain and Mud Creek, as well as on the west side of the Entiat River in the vicinities of Mosquito Ridge and Maverick Saddle.

Strategic burnouts were also conducted along the fire's southern edges in preparation for a series of direct attacks on the flames in the area of Big Meadow Creek.

In addition to the latest evacuations on either side of Lake Chelan, hundreds of residents also remain on evacuation notices in the Entiat Valley and near the Chiwawa River Drainage.

Over 1,800 structures are currently being threatened by the blaze, but none have been damaged or destroyed.

One injury has been reported as a result of the fire.

Smoke impacts from the inferno have expanded as its growth increased in recent days, creating unhealthy air quality readings in the Chelan and Manson areas, and impacting air quality levels in other nearby communities such as Azwell, Bridgeport, Brewster, Entiat, Mansfield, Orondo, Pateros, Waterville, Withrow, and at times the Wenatchee Valley.

There are currently a total of 1,349 personnel assigned to the fire, along with 58 engines; 29 water tenders; and four helicopters.

A community meeting regarding the fire has been scheduled for tonight (Monday, Aug. 3) at 6:30 p.m. at the Chelan County Fire District No. 8 station, located at 2200 Entiat Way in Entiat.