[1]Facing west from north of Pe Ell on the 1500 Line last night. / Courtesy photo by Nate Holmes
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Fire personnel are gathered at the VFW Hall in Pe Ell making plans to attack a wildfire on private timberland.
“We’re working on setting up facilities and things for about 200 people coming this way,” Lewis County Fire District 11 Chief Michael Krafczyk said this morning.
Krafczyk and other local firefighters are assisting the state Department of Natural Resources, which is in charge of the fire.
Krafczyk said he learned at a 7 a.m. briefing the fire doubled in size from last night, and is burning an estimated 50 to 60 acres.
Exactly where it is, he couldn’t say this morning, but the access road is between Pe Ell and the Swiss Park in Francis to the west, he said. And then about an hour’s drive beyond paved roads, he said.
A DNR spokesperson said the fire is burning on a logging site, and two helicopters have been summoned.
“It’s not threatening (Pe Ell) or anything like that,” Krafczyk said. “Just forest land, right now.”