Evacuation level raised for growing Swawilla Fire on Colville Reservation

A wildfire quickly spreading across the Colville Indian Reservation led to new evacuation orders Wednesday around Buffalo Lake north of Coulee Dam.

The Swawilla fire has burned 12,600 acres since a lightning strike started it last Thursday near the north shore of Lake Roosevelt in Ferry County.

Wind is pushing the fire northwest over Manilla Creek Road toward more populated areas, said Isabelle Hoygaard, a public information officer for the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team.

The Colville Tribes Office of Emergency Management issued evacuations Wednesday afternoon for Peter Dan Road, Buffalo Lake, McGinnis Lake and the unincorporated communities Belvedere and Seatons Grove.

Evacuation shelters are at the Lake Roosevelt High School Gym in Coulee Dam and Pascal Sherman Indian School in Omak.

Reynolds Resort, a tribe-owned camping and recreation area on Buffalo Lake, had completely evacuated Wednesday afternoon, manager Mike Hall said. The wind was getting pretty bad, he said, and they could see the smoke approaching.

Hoygaard said crews are working to establish new lines in the area and air support is dropping fire retardant. Some 251 personnel have been assigned to the fire.

The Keller area to the east remains under a Level 2 evacuation warning, meaning residents should be prepared to evacuate. As winds are forecast to shift east Thursday, the fire could move toward Keller, Hoygaard said.

Based on computer models, there is a high probability the fire will impact the communities in and around Keller, Washington, in the next few days, fire behavior analyst Eric Trimble said in a statement.

State Highway 21 south of Manilla Creek Road and the Keller Ferry are closed.