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Regional Journalism

Fire Crews Back Burn, Try To Slow Wolverine Fire

Mario Isaias-Vera
/
InciWeb
File photo of the Wolverine Fire from Holden Village, Washington, on August 1, 2015.

Fire crews are starting back burns from helicopters and are digging hand lines to try and slow the Wolverine wildfire in north-central Washington state.

The fire has burned more than 27,000 acres so far.

Helicopters are having a hard time flying in some parts of the Wolverine fire because of a thick blanket of smoke hugging the steep canyons. And some roads to remote communities are nearly impassable.

A pick-up-sized boulder rolled into the only twisting road that reaches a remote Lutheran retreat called Holden Village. Burnt snags are also dropping over the road.

The Wolverine Fire is currently only a few miles from Holden Village and less than two miles away from Stehekin.

Tourists are traveling by ferry to the village to watch the fire across the lake. There are also two smaller fires in the Cascades burning near Lake Chelan -- the Goodie and the Blankenship.

Anna King calls Richland, Washington home and loves unearthing great stories about people in the Northwest. She reports for the Northwest News Network from a studio at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. She covers the Mid-Columbia region, from nuclear reactors to Mexican rodeos.