Did rain help with Bear Gulch fire? Smoke and fire under trees persist

Caitlyn Freeman, The Seattle Times on Aug 18, 2025

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Despite the heavy rainfall that swept the Olympic Peninsula over the weekend, the Bear Gulch fire remains ablaze and is still only 5% contained.

The human-caused fire started on July 6 and has burned through 8,368 acres as of Monday. It's primarily burning within Olympic National Park near Lake Cushman.

Numerous roads, trails and campgrounds in the southeast portion of the park remain closed.

A weather system brought 3 inches of unseasonal rain to the peninsula on Friday. While the rainfall helped reduce the fire, it didn't have the impact officials hoped it would because the moisture from the rain only reached the surface level, a Sunday update from the incident command staff said.

It did, however, cause an increase in smoke.

Operations Section Chief Derek Steidley said in a video update Monday morning that crews reported hazy and smoky conditions in the lake area overnight.

Fire behavior is expected to be mostly smoldering and creeping, though the chance for surface spread will increase during the week as weather is forecasted to become warmer and drier," a Monday update from the incident command staff said.

Based on the forecast, the smoke shouldn’t travel much, said Harrison Rademacher, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

"We're in the clear at least overnight," he said.

Olympic National Park was forecast to see a high of 68 on Monday with afternoon showers, the National Weather Service said. Tuesday also has a chance of rain and a high of 67. Sunshine will return to the Olympic Peninsula on Wednesday.

The biggest concern is fire moving under the trees. The smoke could weaken trees, causing them to fall and spread the fire, officials said. "The fire is expected to continue smoldering and slowly moving under the trees," officials said in the Sunday incident update. "Small flames can be visible burning in heavy fuels."

Crews focused efforts on cutting hazard trees and reducing fuels along roads Monday, the update said.

"By mopping up, cooling and securing the fire’s edge, crews were able to slightly increase overall incident containment, the post read.

As wildfire season continues, five active large fires encompassing about 14,000 acres are burning in Oregon and Washington, the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center said in a post Sunday.