Stehekin, pressed by wildfire, is under evacuation but many may stay

The boat-in-only resort town of Stehekin went under an urgent evacuation notice Sunday morning as wildfires crept up scenic Lake Chelan, but residents may be hunkering in.

The Level 3 “Get out now!” evacuation notice for Stehekin, issued at 8 a.m. Sunday, covered the area from Stehekin Landing to the popular High Bridge campground up the Stehekin River due to the encroaching Pioneer fire, according to Chelan County Emergency Management.

A map of the resort town of Stehekin which went under an urgent evacuation notice Sunday morning as wildfires crept up scenic Lake Chelan.

An email blast giving notice was sent to community members and Chelan County sheriff’s deputies went door to door to talk to an estimated 80 residents, Emergency Management’s Sgt. Jason Reinfeld said. Visitors to the popular resort were evacuated under a Level 2 notice on Thursday.

Reinfeld said his colleagues can’t recall another time Stehekin faced a Level 3 evacuation. “It’s pretty unique with a boat-in-only community like this,” he said.

Despite the notice, and the threat of the Pioneer fire nearing the community, Reinfeld expected most remaining residents would ignore the evacuation and stay in their homes.

“We’re pretty confident almost everyone is going to stay,” he said. “We can’t mandate people leave their properties in Washington.”

Ferries were scheduled Sunday morning and afternoon to evacuate the boat-in-only community, with an American Red Cross shelter set up in Chelan.

Gov. Jay Inslee encouraged Stehekin residents to get out as soon as possible.

“There has been a Level 3 evacuation order for the people of Stehekin, and we really need those folks to come downriver and get out of harm’s way,” he said in a video post on the social media platform X. “And the reason is, their presence makes it much more difficult for our firefighters to fight the fire.”

The 33,000-acre Pioneer fire has been burning on the eastern side of Lake Chelan since early June, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. But it has crossed a key drainage and was now burning uphill, which tends to make a fire grow, and toward Stehekin, said Lauren DeRocher, a spokesperson for the Pioneer fire incident command.

In addition to the evacuations, there was a broad array of trail, campground, and road closures throughout the Cascades, including the closure of much of the U.S. Forest Service’s Chelan Ranger District north of Lake Chelan.

Cliff Courtney estimated there may be 40 residents remaining in Stehekin, plus firefighting crews that are now headquartered at the Stehekin Valley Ranch, a resort about nine miles upriver from the village. Courtney, co-owner of the Stehekin Ferry, said he was continuing to run a regular route, maintaining a lifeline to the community.

People who wanted to leave already did under a Level 2 evacuation notice last week, he said. “I would doubt if you’re going to see much exodus at all today,” he said.

The community is tucked away on the far north end of Lake Chelan, with access to stunning hiking and recreation. It is so remote there is no cell service and scant internet.

Firefighting crews were laying down protection lines — including sprinklers and hoses — in case the fire reached Stehekin, DeRocher said. Firefighters were working with private homeowners to create defensible spaces around their homes.

Courtney said four sites around Stehekin, including the airport and the ranch, were designated as safe zones in case the fire got into town because they had ample access to water.

“Living with nature is just part of life in an area like ours. We’ve become adaptable, but that’s not to say every event doesn’t hurt,” especially financially in the tourist-dependent town, he said.

Nick Davis runs Stehekin Reservations, a travel-planning service for the town. He said the fires have a massive impact on the local economy and businesses.

“It’s absolutely devastating,” he said. “There’s just no if, ands or buts about it. I’m processing tens of thousands of dollars of refunds.”

Davis said the town is full of fire vehicles and hoses as residents try to prepare. He said many residents, including himself, are not evacuating because they want to protect their homes.

Near Yakima, the Retreat fire closed Highway 12 from the junction at Highway 410 to White Pass, with Level 3 evacuation notices in effect for communities near Cowiche and Tieton.

The fire, which had grown to more than 18,000 acres, started last week. Tim Lobe, spokesperson for the Retreat fire command, said crews were making good progress suppressing the eastern edge of the fire nearest Cowiche and Tieton. “It’s pretty good news, to stop that potential” infringement on the towns, he said.

Level 2 evacuation notices, warning residents to be prepared to leave immediately, were in place for parts of Tieton and Cowiche.

Temperatures in Stehekin are expected to cool off a little, with a predicted high of 73 on Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Showers are likely to sweep the area, but NWS meteorologist Dustin Guy said it’s unclear whether the rain will be substantial enough to help fight the fires.

“It would not be impossible for [Stehekin] to get up to a half-inch of rain,” Guy said. “But … long-term, it’s not going to be a huge help. It just might kind of taper things down a little bit tomorrow, but warm, dry conditions are coming back for the second half of the week.”