Wildfire to keep central WA rec areas closed through Labor Day Surrounding communities under evacuation notices

Officials closed portions of National Forest lands near Cle Elum as the Jolly Mountain Fire continued to burn uncontained Friday. Officials closed portions of National Forest lands near Cle Elum as the Jolly Mountain Fire continued to burn uncontained Friday. Photo: InciWeb/Southwest Area Incident Management Team 3 Photo: InciWeb/Southwest Area Incident Management Team 3 Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Wildfire to keep central WA rec areas closed through Labor Day 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

At the source of the newest influx of smoky haze to Seattle is a wildfire just east of Snoqualmie Pass that is having impacts that go well beyond just damaging air quality.

The Jolly Mountain Fire, burning over roughly 4,600 acres north of Cle Elum and near the north end of Cle Elum Lake, last week triggered the closure of a large swath of National Forest lands in the area, shutting down many trails and campgrounds.

RELATED: Central WA fire dampens plans to camp, hike this weekend

The Kittitas County Sheriff's office issued level one, two and three evacuation notices for communities in the area. Level one notices are essentially an alert that a fire is in the area; level two notices tell residents to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. Level three is a hard evacuation, meaning they must leave.

The handful of remote hunting cabins and similar structures under level three evacuation notices were not occupied and the owners were all contacted, said Darren Higashiyama, operations commander for the Kittitas County Sheriff.

Through Sunday, 402 homes in the Salmon La Sac area were under level two notices, and crews were out issuing more level two notices in the middle fork Teanaway Road area, Higashiyama said.

CLICK HERE for an interactive map of closures and evacuation notices around the fire.

Photo: InciWeb This map shows the area around the Jolly Mountain Fire that is...

The fire started Aug. 11 from a lightning strike and had grown last week to 2,700 acres when the recreation area closure went into place. Burning in steep terrain with many hazards for firefighters, crews have been using helicopters and airplanes known as "air bosses" to scoop water from Cle Elum Lake and douse the fire to slow its progress, said Sarah Wheeler, fire information officer for Team 4.

RELATED: Hot, smoky days return to Seattle

Crews can't fight the blaze directly on the ground until it moves into more manageable terrain, Wheeler said. For now, the 327 people on site have worked to build contingency lines where they can and put in "plumbing" -- hoses in place near homes -- in anticipation of the fire moving.

"We know it's going to get closer to the communities, we just can't get people in there," Wheeler said. "And that's what's going to be incredibly difficult. But I think they have a really good plan in place."

She added that the fire wasn't "annihilating" everything in its path, but rather burning up dead timber and forest debris as it moved.

Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, city hall, and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.