An unattended campfire off the Siouxon Trail has set off a third large wildfire currently burning in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Officials hope the bursts of rain and cooler weather on Wednesday and Thursday will help slow the spread of the Siouxon, Kalama and Goat Rocks fires but expect it won’t be enough to extinguish them.
The Siouxon Fire is burning in the drainage area for the Siouxon Creek in Skamania County, an area of the forest that is largely surrounded by land scarred by the Big Hollow Fire in 2020. The fire had grown to 179 acres as of Wednesday morning and is being managed by a team from the Mt. Adams Ranger District. “To have three of what we consider large fires, which are 100 acres or more, burning in our forest at one time is very unusual,” said Gala Miller, spokesperson for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.