Crews fight to keep Cold Springs fire from Yakamas' commercial timber

Crews battling the Cold Springs Fire near Mount Adams will continue carving fire lines today in hopes of keeping the blaze from entering roadless areas of the Yakama reservation.

So far, the wildfire has feasted mostly on bug-killed timber in recreation areas just southeast of Mount Adams and away from the tribe's commercial timber, said Yakama Nation Forest Manager Edwin Lewis.

Of the more than 7,000 acres blackened by the blaze, 2,400 of them are on the reservation.

Fire officials earlier estimated the fire scorching more than 8,000 acres, but learned that number was only 7,160 after conducting more accurate aerial views.

The tribe is hoping that the fire will stay clear of the heavily forested areas just to the east in the closed section of the reservation, Lewis said.

There, only Yakama tribal members are allowed to come and go freely, and the sacred area is thick with wildlife and fish habitat.

"We sure want to keep the fire out of there as much as possible," he said.

Despite afternoon winds up to 18 mph Tuesday, crews were able to make direct attacks on the south and southwest flanks of the blaze and now have about 5 percent of it contained.

There hasn't been any injuries in the lightning-caused fire that was reported late Saturday and no structures are being threatened.

Two 20-man Hotshot crews were brought in Tuesday and carved fire lines by hand and with bulldozers about 7 miles north of Trout Lake. Nearly 400 firefighters in all from federal, tribal and state agencies are battling the blaze in steep terrain.

"They're going to try and stop the fire wherever they can," said Northwest Coordination Center spokesman Paul Ries. "But when you have a fast-moving fire, you can't put people directly in front of it."

Today, crews are expected to again battle windy dry conditions. Winds as high as 25 mph and temperatures reaching into the mid-80s are forecast for the area, said Diann Coonfield, forecaster with the National Weather Service in Pendleton, Ore.

Similar weather conditions are also expected through Friday, she said.

"Every afternoon, the winds pick up and the humidity has been relatively low," she said.

Although an occasional cloud of smoke has briefly swept through the Yakima Valley, the fire doesn't seem to be having any impact on air quality here, said Yakima Regional Clean Air Authority spokesman Dave Caprile.

"It's really not having that much of an affect on us," he said. "I think the reason for that is the direction of the winds since this thing has started."

* Phil Ferolito can be reached at 577-7749 or pferolito@yakimaherald.com.

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