RAINBOW BRIDGE FIRE THREATENS HISTORIC PROPERTIES

[slideshow]   Our thanks go to Jesse Kennedy, Cultural Resources Manager for the North Cascades National Park Service Complex for sending us these photos of the Rainbow Bridge Fire still raging above the Stehekin Valley in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. One photos shows how close the fire came to the National Register of Historic Places listed Stehekin School; a temporary sprinkler (seen in the photo) was installed to protect the building. Fortunately, the fire did not come any closer; if it had plans were in place to wrap the building in mylar or spray the building with foam. The other picture shows the fire from the National Register listed Buckner Homestead, a favorite historic property that is open to the public for interpretation. While the homestead was not threatened by the Rainbow Bridge Fire, the National Park Service has taken steps to minimize its vulnerability to future fires in the Stehekin Valley. Our thanks go to NPS and National Forest Service staff and on the ground firefighters who work not only to fight the fires but also take precautions to protect historic properties from being burned and avoid damaging archaeological properties on the fire lines.