Firefighters injured in Chelan Hills Fire

Multiple firefighters were injured Saturday afternoon, with some suffering from minor burns and others from smoke inhalation, after significant winds forced firefighters to retreat while fighting the Chelan Hills Fire.

The wildfire was about 20% contained and had burned 9,735 acres as of Tuesday afternoon after it began a little after 12 a.m. on the Fourth of July, according to Douglas County Sheriff Tyler Caille.

Caille briefed Gov. Bob Ferguson, officials and members of the media on the latest developments about the Chelan Hills Fire Tuesday afternoon at a Lake Chelan School District building.

Caille said the fire's origin was traced to somewhere along the area of mile marker 223 on Highway 97.

Around 2:30-3 p.m., high winds blew the fire through McNeil Canyon, where the fire had spread to and "progressed so rapidly that it created a firestorm," and put all the residents in the area, as well as firefighters there, at risk, according to Caille

"We had firefighters that had to retreat to a safe zone of a property that was mowed down to where they basically circled all their engines and used their pumps and water to keep themselves cool," Caille said.

One of the fire engines was completely burned over, rendered inoperable. Another was burned but able to be driven out. A state Department of Natural Resources transport vehicle crashed into another DNR vehicle; one of the vehicles was consumed by the fire, according to Caille.

Caille did not specify how many firefighters were injured in the course of that afternoon, but did say that some suffered minor burns while others suffered smoke inhalation.

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This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 12:22 PM.