Prepared by: Scott Miller   EOC Manager: Scott Miller

1)  GENERAL SITUATION:    

• Okanogan fire began around 1900 July 1 as a lightning storm moved through the valley, dropping many strikes, and starting no less than eight definitive starts. The Jackass Butte fire (located directly east from the City of Okanogan) was the result of two strikes, which came together to form one large fire. The Butte is located on the Colville Indian reservation, which is on the east side of the Okanogan River. Fuels consisted mostly of low sagebrush, very dry, and had not burned for approximately ten years.  The wind picked up and shifted to the west, driving the fire west down the hill towards highway 97. 
• Eight residences located immediately to the west of hwy 97 were in the path of the fire, which moved so quickly that all available persons were called to the scene to evacuate those persons, and try to save the structures and livestock. Fortunately, through heroic efforts, all of the residences were saved, except on outbuilding, and no lives were lost, or persons injured.  The fire literally burned right up to the structures.  The residents have since been allowed to return.
• Responders included fire districts from all over Okanogan County, with City of Okanogan Fire taking the lead; city, county, and tribal law enforcement, and WSP; Lifeline Ambulance, and WSDOT.
• At the height of the emergency, highway 97 was impassable and closed by WSP, with a detour made through the City of Okanogan.
• State MOB was requested and granted at 10pm on Tuesday night
• The fire burned down to highway 97, with 20ft flame height, and destroyed the power lines that served the Methow Valley.  Okanogan PUD restored power to the Methow Valley approximately 9am on Wednesday.  During this outage, 7000 customers lost power.  Emergency plans were to be activated at 0800 hours this am for special needs persons, if the power had not been restored.
• Immediately across the highway are located the Okanogan Inn and Okanogan Casino.  Based on the threat and proximity, the Casino (180 people) and Inn (21 people) were evacuated and the access road on the west side of the highway was closed.  The Casino has been reopened today and guests of the Okanogan Inn have been allowed to return.
• Of particular risk is the communication infrastructure on top of Jackass Butte, which included the Sheriff’s control station for all radio repeaters in the county.  The fire moved so fast that there was no time to bring in heavy equipment to put a break around the site, and we could only watch as the fire surrounded the site on three sites.  Later inspections showed the fire came within ten feet of destroying this facility.  Backup radios were in place ready for use, if needed.  Currently, the Sheriff’s radios are running on generator and battery power.
• The fire was stopped at highway 97 on the west, but continued to burn to the east and north, including surrounding the Okanogan airport.  Although firm numbers are not available, it is estimated that approximately 1500 acres were burned.

            A)  Event:  Jackass Butte Fire

            B)  Time of Occurrence:  1900 hrs  

            C)  Time EOC Activated:  2000 hrs

            D)  Affected Agencies:

            E)  Washington State EOC Notified:   YES         Time:  10:15 2/6/08   

            State Fire Mobilization authorized 2200 hrs 1 July.

            F)  Level of EOC Operations:  Enhanced – EOC staff only – no outside agencies

2)  AFFECTED JURISDICTIONS:

3)  CASUALTY STATUS:

            A)      Confirmed Dead:       0 

            B)                     Injured:       0 

            C)                    Missing:       0   

4)  WEATHER SUMMARY:  at 10:09 2 July 08

Okanogan:  Today: Isolated showers and thunderstorms.  Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Northeast wind around 8 mph becoming south. Chance of precipitation is 20%.  Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming west

Methow Valley: Today: Isolated showers and thunderstorms.  Partly cloudy, with a high near 94. East wind around 7 mph becoming south. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. South wind 6 to 8 mph becoming west.

5)  TRANSPORTATION:

     A)  Roads:  Highway 97 was closed between milepost 285 (DOT facility) to 6 miles south milepost 279 (Malott)) from approximately 20:13, 1 July (poor visibility and embers).  The highway was reopened 0330 am 2 July.   

            B)  Pass Conditions:  NA

            C)  Railroad Status:  NA

            D)  State Ferries:  NA

6)  UTILITIES:   

      A)  Electricity:   

            1)  A transmission structure was lost on the Loop line around 20:20 hrs 1 July, power was lost to Twisp,             Winthrop, Malott and south Okanogan. Some switching had been done to bring power back to Brewster Flats and Okanogan customers.  Because of the fire, crews could not access the line. They isolated the south Okanogan, Brewster Flats and Malott outages to the Malott area.  Crews were finally able to get in to repair the line at 22:45 a.m. At approximately 07:45 hrs, 2 July, power came back to all customers.  A total of 7,000 customers lost power for both PUD and the Okanogan County Electric Co-op through the night because of the fire. Nespelem valley lines do not appear to be damaged.

          2) The line power to all radio sites was lost, due to the power poles being completely burned and lines destroyed.  As of today, July 2, Okanogan PUD was in the process of replacing six poles and restoring power to the sites.  Expected completion is late this afternoon.

            B)  Natural Gas:  NA

            C)  Telephones:  no impact

            D)  Water:   No Impact

            E)  Critical Infrastructure:   No Impact

7)  RIVER STATUS & FORECAST:  N/A

8)  STATE AGENCY ACTIVITY:

            A)  Washington State EOC:  Yes

            B)  Washington State Patrol:  Yes, including traffic control on Hwy 97 and State MOB authorization.

            C)  Washington State Department of Health:  No

            D)  Washington State Department of Ecology:  No

9)  CURRENT SHELTER/ EVACUATION STATUS:

            A)  Shelters Open:

                                          Red Cross:     0                   Other:       0 

            B)  Total Persons Registered at Shelters:

                                          Registered last 24 hrs:     0                Total Registered:   0 

10)  CURRENT PRIORITY NEEDS:  None

11)  PLANNED ACTIONS:    

            1 – Continue to monitor fire, which is under State MOB control

            2 – Provide press releases as needed

            3 – restore power to radio sites

12)  DISTRIBUTION:

            State EOC

            Other county Emergency Management Departments