Several aircraft were deployed during containment efforts at Southwest Washington’s most serious wildfire of the 2024 season.

Eleven days after flames erupted and quickly grew in size, the Huckleberry Fire was reported as completely contained on Sept. 15. The final size of the fire was estimated at 300 acres.

It was first reported Sept. 4 in the southwest forestland of Lewis County near the borders with Pacific and Wahkiakum counties.

It grew to three acres within an hour, and checked in at 21 acres by the morning of Sept. 5. By that evening it reached an estimated 150 to 200 acres, as well as an associated five-acre spot fire.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources and the Western Washington Type-3 Incident Management Team ran the response. The team utilized every available rotary and fixed-wing aircraft asset at its disposal in the early days.

Air assets included UH-60 Blackhawks, UH-1V Hueys, Canadair CL-415 Super-Scoopers, and Dash 8-400AT Airtankers. The crews worked from sunrise to sunset when the weather permitted favorable visibility.

The fire was worked aggressively over the first week with 300 personnel consisting of the command staff, wildland firefighters, handcrews, hotshot crews, dozens of engines and tankers, heavy equipment, and the air assets.

The Observer monitored the fire daily via radio and heard fire crews working the fire day and night in steep and remote terrain.

Weather was a major challenge for crews with daytime temperatures hitting the 90s and overnight lows rarely dipping below 70. Relative humidity was also a major factor, as anything below 10% humidity favors rapid fire growth — and several days were well below 10%.

Last week, cooler weather moved into the region and brought a good amount of rainfall and higher humidity levels that helped crews hold back fire growth. Crews steadily worked a containment line around the fire, especially with heavy equipment.

At its peak, the fire was about eight miles from the nearest community, about 20 miles south of Pe Ell and around 10 miles north of Cathlamet.

“The Western Washington Incident Management Team expresses gratitude to the community, and it was absolutely [an] honor to serve you during our visit,” Incident Commander Kent Stanford said in a press release.

“The Huckleberry Ridge Fire is going to continue to have some areas that continue to smolder. Some smoke may be observed for a while, but local resources will continue to work the fire and monitor the situation,” Stanford added.

A Type-4 Incident Management Team with local resources took over command of the fire effective Sept. 16, and many resources that have worked the fire have demobilized.