By Pepper Fisher
NEAH BAY – We got an update on the wildfires burning on the Makah Indian Reservation from Tribe Chairman TJ Greene Friday morning.
He said the strong winds died down overnight, which allowed the grounded DNR helicopters to begin water drops this morning. Greene said fire crews on the ground were able to stop the fires from spreading and the fires were shrinking in size.
“The Hobuck acreage was updated. I think we reported it at 20. It basically hasn’t grown, but a more accurate number was 40, and it’s still at 40 right now. We got a little more clarity too, there is a 10-acre upon the Cape. There’s two separate fires. One at 60 and one at 10 right now. So, yesterday’s reports were basically combining those to 100 acres, so they split those out into separate fires right now. So a total of 70 acres burning on the Cape. No longer 100. So it’s still reduced in size.”
A smaller 2 acre fire has been put out. Greene said there were no additional evacuations since yesterday morning. Everyone is back in the their homes, but the schools decided to remain closed today for the safety of the kids and to keep the roads clear.
All in all, the firefight is going well, and Chairman Greene says he’s optimistic.
“Yeah, very optimistic. Mr. Wells, our supervisor, gave the report they’re pretty confident they can be able to get the fire about 80% contained by the end of the day today. If conditions stay this way, that’ll be good.”