Sunday, Oct 5:
There will be an in-person community meeting for the Labor Mountain Fire and the Lower Sugarloaf Fires at 7pm Monday night, Oct 6, at the Cashmere Middle School. This meeting will be livestreamed to the Labor Mountain Fire Facebook page.
Current situation: Heavy helicopters dropped a total of 151,000 gallons of water to cool the fire’s edge on the northeastern, eastern, and southeastern portions of the fire yesterday. Scooper planes were also active yesterday and both heavy helicopters and scooper planes are expected to be very active today working to contain the spread of fire, manage hot spots inaccessible to firefighters, and support crews on the ground. Firefighters completed primary containment line and installed hoselays near old Blewett Pass. Fireline construction work continues on both sides of Highway 97 up to Tronsen Ridge to the east, and to the west across to Scotty Creek, Peshastin Creek, and Shaser Creeks. Crews are working on the 800 Road securing line, mopping up, and removing hazard trees. Saw crews are continuing their work removing fire-weakened hazard trees in the Hwy 97 corridor as they work towards getting the highway safe to reopen. Firefighters are securing the fireline on Tronsen Ridge. Hotshot crews from across the country have arrived to bolster operations in the Mission Creek, Sand Creek, and 7104 Road areas as they continue building direct and indirect fireline on the eastern fire perimeter. Crews are also going direct in the Ruby Creek area. Firefighters completed the handline connecting Hwy 97 to the 181 Road near Windmill Creek. Fire crews have established hoselays along Ingalls Creek and firefighters are ready to hold the line. Firefighters are mopping up and patrolling along the 9737 and 9703 Roads on the southwestern fire perimeter.
Evacuations: Evacuation notices for Chelan and Kittitas Counties are subject to change at any time. Fire evacuation areas are visible on the Chelan County Evacuation Map and the Kittitas County Evacuation Map.
Weather and smoke conditions: Central Washington is entering a dry period with clear skies and warming temperatures. Winds will be light and largely terrain-driven today, with temperatures again hovering around 60 degrees today. Cle Elum will have unhealthy for sensitive groups air quality today, while Ellensburg will see moderate air quality. Wenatchee will have moderate air quality today with smoke increasing in the afternoon. Learn more about smoke impacts at the Washington Smoke Blog.