OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — A small fire is burning in the wilderness of Olympic National Park south of Port Angeles, park staff said Monday.
The park announced in a press release that staff confirmed Sunday that the two acre wildland fire was burning about 21 miles south of Port Angeles in the geographic center of the park.
Called the Mount Dana Fire, it was first reported Saturday after a series of lightning strikes on the Olympic Peninsula recorded from last Wednesday through Saturday.
Fire personnel performed a reconnaissance flight over the area Sunday and observed the fire burning on the western slope of Mount Dana.
It does not pose an immediate threat to human life or structures. There are no trail or area closures at this time.
The fire is smoldering and creeping in subalpine fir with pockets of heavy forest debris at an elevation of 4,400 feet above sea level.
The weather forecast is predicting slightly warmer temperatures with a chance of showers in the next few days, to be followed by a normal seasonal pattern by the end of the week.
Smoke from the Mount Dana fire might be visible in the coming week from Hurricane Ridge and Obstruction Point Road depending on weather conditions.
Olympic Interagency Fire Management resources from the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service will continue to monitor the fire’s behavior in the coming weeks.
The current plan is to manage the fire for resource benefit while reducing suppression cost and firefighter exposure to potentially hazardous, rugged and steep terrain.
The park service is mandated to preserve resources such as plants and animals, along with the natural processes that sustain them, including fire.
Additional information will be released as the situation dictates, the press release stated.
For more information about fire management and fire history in Olympic National Park, visit https://tinyurl.com/PDN-FireInfo.
