Chelan-area fire restrictions remain in place after July wildfire activity

Recreational campfires were banned throughout unincorporated Chelan County beginning July 1, 2026, as official records documented wildfire activity in the Chelan-area region. The restrictions affect residents, campers, property owners and visitors who might otherwise burn recreational fires.

The county’s notice does not establish that the same ban applies inside every incorporated municipality. It specifically applies throughout unincorporated Chelan County, so the available record should not be read as a citywide restriction for the incorporated City of Chelan.

What the records show about the fire

Washington State Patrol records say the Chelan Hills Fire started July 4 at approximately 12:05 a.m. The Washington Department of Natural Resources’ Wildfire Portal lists the fire as first reported July 6 at 11 a.m. Those entries describe different points in the timeline: a reported start time and a later first-reported listing.

On July 10, Douglas County reported that McNeil Canyon Road was open and that restrictions had been lifted following the Chelan Hills Fire. That update documents a road reopening and the lifting of restrictions in the surrounding area. The supplied records do not provide a fire-size estimate, damage total, containment figure or current incident status.

What is not established

The available evidence does not show that the incorporated City of Chelan was evacuated, closed or directly damaged by the fire. It also does not establish that the fire entered the city. The county campfire notice, state records and Douglas County road update document county restrictions and nearby fire-related activity, but they do not prove a city-of-Chelan closure or evacuation.

No newer August 2026 incident update or city-specific damage assessment was located in the approved records. The packet also gives no stated deadline for the recreational campfire ban to end. Residents and visitors should therefore distinguish the documented July 1 county restriction from any assumption about current conditions inside the city or about whether restrictions have since changed.

For the documented timeline, the key dates are July 1, when the recreational campfire ban took effect in unincorporated Chelan County; July 4, when Washington State Patrol records place the fire’s start; July 6, when the DNR portal lists its first-reported time; and July 10, when McNeil Canyon Road was reported open and restrictions were lifted.