Incident Media Photographs

Estimated size:                          500 acres

Start Date/Time:                       July 17, 2024

Area of Origin:                          21 air miles east of Darrington WA

Cause:                                       Lightning

Fuels/Topography:                    timber, rugged terrain

Structures Damaged:                 None, there are no homes threatened at this time.

Evacuations:                             None

The Miners Complex consists of ten wildfires caused by lightning strikes in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The fires included in the complex are: Miners Fire, Vista Ridge Fire, Dolly Creek Fire, Sulphur Three Fire, Sulphur Four Fire, Sulphur Thirty-Four Fire, Upper Sulphur Thirty-Two Fire, Lower Sulphur Thirty-Two Fire, Plummer, and Middle Ridge Fire.

Update: The warm temperatures continue to feed the fires throughout the Miners Complex. Observation cameras have picked up smoke coming from Sulphur Mountain, Miners, Dolly Creek and Vista Ridge fires. The reconnaissance flight is scheduled for Saturday in order to identify perimeters and determine and observe fire behavior and spread. The national preparedness level for fires continues to be level 5, which is the highest it gets. This means in Oregon and Washington alone there area nearly 13,000 firefighters battling 52 large fires. Competition for resources is high and available resources are being utilized on higher priority fires due to the remoteness of the Miners Complex fires. 

Weather: An upper-level ridge over the region will maintain warm and dry conditions into today and Monday along with some instability. At this time, afternoon RH values are expected to remain just above critical levels with moderate recoveries at night. Light winds overnight into the morning hours will become westerly to southwesterly each afternoon and evening between 5 to 10 mph. Max temperatures around 80 degrees. West winds 5 to 10 mph.

Smoke: For more information on smoke and air quality please visit: https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/

Closures: The following is a summary of the areas closed due to the fires in the Miners Complex. Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail #2000.2 from Mica Lake to Suiattle Pass, Suiattle River Trail #784, Miners Ridge Trail #785, Buck Creek Pass Trail #789, Miners Cabin Trail #795, Grassy Point Trail #788, Sulphur Mountain Trail #794, Sulphur Creek Trail #793, Sulphur Creek Campground, Sulphur Creek Trailhead, and the Downey Creek trailhead. The full Closure Orders visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/mbs

Forest Restrictions: The Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie has a full campfire ban and forest-wide shooting restrictions in place to help prevent human-caused starts during this period of unprecedented resource scarcity. Additional details at: www.fs.usda.gov/mbs