Level 3 Evacuations Now In Place For Keller From Swawilla Fire

Level 3 - Go Now - evacuation notices are now in place for the town of Keller and surrounding areas because of increased danger from the growing Swawilla Fire. 

There are also Level 3 notices for Peter Dan Road, Buffalo Lake, McGinnis Lake Reynolds Resort, Belvedere and Seatons Grove.  

The notices were issued by the Confederated Colville Tribes Office of Emergency Management. 

Evacuation Shelters are in place at Lake Roosevelt High School in Coulee Dam and Pascal Sherman Indian School in Omak. 

The Swawilla Fire has grown to more than 12,600 acres after starting late last Wednesday night about 9 miles south of Keller. It remains zero percent contained.

As of Thursday morning, the incident managers of the Swawilla Fire said there is a very high potential for the fire to move in a northerly direction towards homes and transmission lines which would be at risk. 

Crews plan to add structure protection to homes and establish containment lines when it's safe to do so.  

The incident management team says with the current resources available, the anticipated containment date of the fire will continue to be pushed back.   

Also, resources are spread between the Swawilla Fire and supporting the Owhi Fire, which covers about 85 acres and was on patrol status.   

The weather forecast for the area of the Swawilla Fire and the town of Keller calls for temperatures to remain in the mid to upper 80s through next Monday with light winds over the next two days. 

Evacuation Shelters:  

• Lake Roosevelt High School Gym, 500 Civic Way, Coulee Dam, WA. 99116  
• Pascal Sherman Indian School, 169 North End Omak Lake Road, Omak, WA 98841  

For information call Tribal Emergency Operation Center at 509-634-7350 or 509-634-7359