OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — The drought season’s first wildfire in Olympic National Park slowed a little today because of cooler and cloudier conditions, an incident report said this morning.
The fire is at the confluence of the Queets River and Paradise Creek and has been named the Paradise Fire. As of 7 a.m., it was reported to cover 381 acres and continues to burn slowly along the river in an area of tall, centuries-old trees, according to InciWeb Incident Information System [ http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4305/ ].
The 48 total personnel on the scene are working to limit the fire’s spread on the west side, and will then move eastward to capitalizing on the cooler and moister weather. Additional fire crews and a helicopter are on order.
According to the incident report, the lightning-caused fire about 13 miles north-northeast of Quinault is smoldering and creeping in logs on the forest floor and carrying into treetops, burning in dry lichen. Fire effects are patchy, with the scorching seen in conifer needles.
The weather forecast calls for isolated showers through today, followed by a warming trend this weekend with a possible thermal trough over the fire area Saturday night and Sunday morning. An onshore flow with possible cooling is forecast Sunday night. Warmer, drier weather is expected after Tuesday.
The Queets River Trail is closed at Bob Creek until further notice.
