Labor Mountain Fire

Labor Mountain Fire Update
Wednesday,  October 22, 2025

Size: 42,967 acres

Incident Start Date: 09.01.2025 

Containment: 92%

Cause: Lightning 

Location: 10 miles north of Cle Elum

Fuels: Timber, brush 

Resources: 1 crew      2 helicopters       1 Heavy Equipment     

Total personnel: 289

This will be the final fire update unless there is a significant change in fire activity.

Current Situation: Pacific Northwest Incident Management Team 3 will be transferring management of the Labor Mountain and Lower Sugarloaf fires back to the local units of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, and Washington Department of Natural Resources on Thursday evening at 6:00 pm.

Fire activity continues to be minimal and no further fire growth is expected. Some isolated smoke will continue to be visible in the interior of the Labor Mountain Fire, especially along the Highway 97 corridor, as large logs and stumps smolder and burn out. This minimal burning within the existing fire footprint poses no threat to containment lines. Significant precipitation is expected for both fire areas this weekend which will further dampen already wet fuels and limit potential for any future fire activity.

Today will be the last shift for crews repairing firelines on the Labor Mountain fire. They will be working in the Camas Land area and repairing roads on the north end of the fire. Elsewhere on the Labor Mountain fire all suppression repair has been completed or deferred for the Spring after roads and soils have dried. Yesterday helicopters assisted fire personnel with retrieving the final four high elevation radio repeaters and two helicopters remain available to support operations today.  

On the Lower Sugarloaf fire, crews continue seeding exposed soils on dozer lines and roads with native plant seed. Heavy equipment is also being used to repair roads damaged during suppression activities and this work will be complete after today.

Evacuations: All evacuations for the Labor Mountain and Lower Sugarloaf fires have been lifted.

Closures and Safety: Portions of WA DNR’s Teanaway Community Forest and the U.S. Forest Service - Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest remain closed due to the Labor Mountain and Lower Sugarloaf Fires.  Please check the status of area closures before planning to visit lands adjacent to the fire area.

Weather and smoke conditions: Today and tomorrow will be dry with increasing cloud cover through the day and temperatures in the low to mid 50s. Wetting rain and higher elevation snow is expected this weekend. For current information about smoke conditions, visit the Washington Smoke Blog.