By Adam Lynn
The News Tribune (Washington)
Copyright 2006 The News Tribune
All Rights Reserved
More than 200 firefighters supported by a water-dropping helicopter will continue to build lines today around a wildfire that has forced the closure of a road leading to Mount Rainier National Park.
By Monday afternoon, the fire had burned 100 acres about 6 miles southwest of Carbonado. The blaze was burning in steep, heavily wooded terrain north of the Carbon River not far from Old Baldy Mountain.
Fire bosses believe the blaze was caused by human activity, but they weren’t ready Monday to say just how, said Dale Warriner, a spokesman for the Washington Interagency Incident Management Team.
“That’s still under investigation,” Warriner said Monday.
The blaze was burning on mostly private land adjacent to Fairfax Forest Reserve Road, also known as the Carbon River Road.
Crews had dug or blasted a trail along the southern portion of the blaze by Monday afternoon, but the fire continued to burn out of control to the north.
No injuries have been reported, and no buildings are threatened.
Specially trained crews might be sent to the north side today to blast fire breaks using explosives, fire officials said. The terrain, with many rocky cliffs, is particularly rugged.
They were hoping today’s forecast of cooler, cloudy weather would help them make progress, Warriner said.
Officials shut down Fairfax Forest Reserve Road to all but local traffic Monday to protect public safety and allow firefighters to move equipment unhindered, said Barbara Nelson of the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management.
The road will be closed indefinitely from its junction with Highway 165 to its terminus at the Carbon River entrance to Mount Rainier National Park. Last month, more than 19,000 people used the Carbon River entrance to enter the park, according to National Park Service estimates.
By comparison, about 118,000 people used the Nisqually entrance, according to Park Service records.
The road closure also cuts off access to the Clearwater Wilderness area as well as nearby Coplay Lake, Summit Lake and the Bearhead trail head areas in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
Access to the Evans Creek ORV area is not affected by the closure.