Little Giant FirePlain, Washington

Little Giant Fire

September 3, 2026 · Evening report · Plain, Washington

Data captured Sep 3, 4:11 PM PDT · unofficial & automated — in an emergency use Watch Duty and official alerts, not this page

This is an archived report from September 3, 2026 · Evening. Read the latest brief →

The Sheriff's office touched three zones this afternoon, which trips this tracker's alert rule, but the substance is favorable: the Level 3 "Go Now" ring that used to sit closest to the house (3.7 mi NNE) has dropped off the map entirely, while the one that remains (5.1 mi N) is an unchanged republish, not a redraw. Fire and air quality readings are essentially flat, and wind stays weak through Friday.

Evacuation status

The Bennetts' house is outside every evacuation zone.

Nearest zone boundary: Little Giant Level 1 (get ready), 2 mi NNE of the house — boundary last moved Sep 1, 9:10 AM PDT.

Fire size170,968 ac+213 since last report
Contained65%of the perimeter, per NIFC
Nearest fire edge5.2 miNNE of the house · as of Sep 3, 2:34 PM PDT
Satellite heat, 24 h6.6 minearest detection, NE of the house · 17 in the surrounding ~50 mi
Air quality46 AQIGood · modeled at the house
County road blocksnonelogged by the county · construction delays are in Roads, below
PlainLake WenatcheeFish LakeColes CornerAlder CreekTwin CreekAtkinson FlatTrinityLeavenworthStevens Pass5.2 miThe Bennetts' housefire continues east →
  • Level 3 — Go now
  • Level 2 — Get set
  • Level 1 — Get ready
  • Fire perimeter
  • Satellite heat, 24 h (brighter = fresher)
  • The Bennetts' house
Evacuation zones from the Chelan County Sheriff's live layer; fire perimeter from NIFC as of Sep 3, 2:34 PM PDT. Base geography is hand-plotted and approximate. Rings mark straight-line miles from the house. Containment lines are not mapped — no public GIS source carries them; the brief describes where they are.

The last 24 hours

A fresh GIS perimeter posted at 2:34 PM PDT170,968 acres, 65% contained, nearest edge unchanged at 5.2 mi NNE. That's +213 acres over the day-old snapshot this morning's brief carried; containment and distance haven't moved. InciWeb's 8:32 AM update showed 170,784 acres, also 65% contained, 1,910 personnel — consistent, the gap is six hours of timing.

The zone layer changed more than the fire did. Between 2:31 and 2:46 PM the Sheriff's office touched three zones. The Level 3 "Go Now" ring closest to the house, 5.1 mi N, was re-edited at 2:31 PM but its closest point is identical, to four decimal places, to this morning's — a republish, not a boundary move. More notable: the other Level 3 zone, which had sat at 3.7 mi NNE — the nearer of the two "Go Now" rings — is gone from the layer entirely. A differently-named Level 3 zone ("Little Giant-Level 3," no space) appeared instead at 14.3 mi NE, a different location, not a relocated version of the near-house ring. LG Entiat Level 1 (11.3 mi ENE) also dropped off, and a new "Kelly Road Level 1" appeared at 19.9 mi SSE — unrelated to the house side.

Net effect: the nearest zone to the house is still Level 1 "Get Ready" at 2.0 mi NNE, unedited since Sep 1. But the second-nearest ring — the 3.7-mile Level 3 — is no longer mapped, fitting the drawdown pattern from late August and general-search reporting that the Sheriff's Office has been stepping down evacuation levels across all three complexes as containment holds. No press item confirms this specific removal yet, so it's reported as a GIS-layer fact, not an official rescission. All of today's edits fall within 15 mi of the house, tripping the tracker's alert condition — Andrew is being emailed separately — but nothing here points toward the house; if anything it points away.

News sweep otherwise added little: lakewenatcheeinfo.com returned no usable content again (recurring bot-challenge issue), Lake Chelan Now has nothing on the fire, and the Chelan County EM page is blocked from this environment (egress policy, not a fetch failure). wasmoke.blogspot.com's latest post is still Aug 31. General search surfaced the Lake Chelan Mirror's "171,302 acres" figure from around Sep 1 — stale, not used here — and broader confirmation of the evacuation-reduction trend, nothing dated to today's edits specifically.

VIIRS logged 17 regional detections in the last 24h, down from 19 this morning; nearest to the house is 6.6 mi NE, 5 hours old. All 26 near-Plain clusters match this morning's snapshot exactly, including the two at 6.3–6.4 mi N the fetch tool flagged as new — checked against this morning's data, they're the same single-day Aug 27 detections already logged.

What stands between the fire and Plain

Level 1 "Get Ready" at 2.0 mi NNE, unchanged. The nearer Level 3 "Go Now" ring is gone; the one that remains sits at 5.1 mi N with an unmoved boundary. Fire perimeter itself at 5.2 mi NNE, unchanged.

Fire weather

No Red Flag Warning, no NWS alerts of any kind active. Wind stays weak in every direction that matters: S ~1 mph this afternoon, NW ~2 mph tonight, S ~1 mph Friday. A 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms today and Friday continues the wet pattern that's held containment steady and pushed VIIRS counts down.

Air quality

AQI 46 (PM2.5 6.7, PM10 7.3) as of 4 PM — Good, though the headline number ticked up from this morning's 39 even as PM2.5 fell sharply from 15.1. No NWS air quality alert is active.

Roads: no blocks logged in the GIS layer.

What I'd watch

  • Whether the Sheriff's office or a news outlet issues anything confirming the 3.7 mi NNE Level 3 zone was formally rescinded, versus just dropped from today's layer.
  • Whether the 14.3 mi NE Level 3 addition or the new Kelly Road Level 1 zone gets any explanatory coverage.
  • Whether the weak, favorable wind and 40% shower chances hold through Friday, or shift toward the N/NE flow down the Chiwawa or White River drainages that would matter for Plain.

The plan, decided in advance

  • If a Level 1 zone reaches the house: confirm go-bags, documents, and medications are staged; keep both vehicles above half a tank; recheck this page and Watch Duty morning and evening.
  • If Level 2 reaches the house: load the cars, position them facing out, and leave early if anyone is home alone or mobility-limited. Do not wait for Level 3 to decide.
  • If Level 3 reaches the house — leave immediately: primary route Beaver Valley Rd → SR 207 → US 2; alternate Chumstick Hwy to Leavenworth (mind the pilot-car delays); US 2 west over Stevens Pass if east is compromised.

Default plan drafted from Ready-Set-Go guidance — worth a family walk-through while things are calm. Authorities' instructions override it.

Evacuation zones, measured from the house

ZoneLevelFrom the houseBoundary last edited
Little GiantLevel 12 mi NNE (20°)Sep 1, 9:10 AM PDT
Little Giantchanged <24 hLevel 35.1 mi N (357°)Sep 3, 2:31 PM PDT
Little Giantchanged <24 hLevel 314.3 mi NE (48°)Sep 3, 2:33 PM PDT
Kelly Roadchanged <24 hLevel 119.9 mi SSE (152°)Sep 3, 2:46 PM PDT
StehekinLevel 139.7 mi N (356°)Aug 29, 2:02 PM PDT

Zone geometry comes only from the Sheriff's GIS layer — news descriptions of boundaries have run 10+ days behind the actual polygon edits. Distances are straight-line to the zone boundary.

Wind and weather, next four days

  • This AfternoonS 1 mphChance Showers And Thunderstorms · 64°F
  • TonightNW 2 mphChance Rain Showers then Partly Cloudy · 44°F
  • FridayS 1 mphChance Showers And Thunderstorms · 65°F
  • Friday NightE 1 mphChance Rain Showers · 47°F
  • SaturdayS 2 mphChance Rain Showers · 67°F
  • Saturday NightW 1 mphChance Rain Showers then Areas Of Fog · 43°F
  • SundayN 2 mphAreas Of Fog then Chance Rain Showers · 73°F
  • Sunday NightNW 0 to 6 mphChance Rain Showers · 44°F

Report history

ReportFire size (GIS)ContainedNearest edgeZone status
Sep 17 · Evening172,814 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 17 · Morning172,814 ac+10981%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 16 · Evening172,705 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 16 · Morning172,705 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 15 · Evening172,705 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 15 · Morning172,705 ac+2281%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 14 · Evening172,683 ac1281%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Previous reports(69)
Sep 14 · Morning172,695 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 13 · Evening172,695 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 13 · Morning172,695 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 12 · Evening172,695 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 12 · Morning172,695 ac+10381%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 11 · Evening172,592 ac+19181%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 11 · Morning172,401 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 10 · Evening172,401 ac+481%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 10 · Morning172,397 ac+19881%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 9 · Evening172,199 ac+3281%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 9 · Morning172,167 ac+64181%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 8 · Morning171,526 ac+6881%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 7 · Evening171,458 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 7 · Morning171,458 ac+29581%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 6 · Evening171,163 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 6 · Morning171,163 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 5 · Evening171,163 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 5 · Morning171,163 ac+17881%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 4 · Evening170,985 ac81%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 4 · Morning170,985 ac+1773%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 3 · Evening170,968 ac+21365%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 3 · Morning170,755 ac65%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 2 · Evening170,755 ac+11049%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 2 · Morning170,645 ac+549%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 1 · Evening170,640 ac14449%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Sep 1 · Morning170,784 ac49%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Aug 31 · Evening170,784 ac+7,70649%5.2 mi NNEoutside all zones
Aug 31 · Morning163,078 ac1149%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 30 · Evening163,089 ac+53527%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 30 · Morning162,554 ac+1427%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 29 · Evening162,540 ac+29627%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 29 · Morning162,244 ac71727%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 28 · Evening162,961 ac+1,82925%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 28 · Morning161,132 ac+11,27125%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 27 · Evening149,861 ac23%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 27 · Morning149,861 ac23%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 26 · Evening149,861 ac+2,23523%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 26 · Morning147,626 ac23%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 25 · Evening147,626 ac+1,58421%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 25 · Morning146,042 ac21%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 24 · Evening146,042 ac+1,21215%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 24 · Morning144,830 ac15%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 23 · Evening144,830 ac+2,60415%5.2 mi NNELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 23 · Morning142,226 ac15%5.3 mi NELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 22 · Evening142,226 ac+815%5.3 mi NELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 22 · Morning142,218 ac+2,73115%5.3 mi NELittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 21 · Evening139,487 ac12%6.6 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 21 · Morning139,487 ac+91012%6.6 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 20 · Evening138,577 ac+10212%6.6 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 20 · Morning138,475 ac+88212%6.6 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 19 · Evening137,593 ac+29910%6.7 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 19 · Morning137,294 ac+1,30910%6.8 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 18 · Evening135,985 ac10%7 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 18 · Morning135,985 ac+1,35010%7 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 17 · Evening134,635 ac+2,28410%7.1 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 17 · Morning132,351 ac10%7.3 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 16 · Evening132,351 ac10%7.3 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 16 · Morning132,351 ac+4,26610%7.3 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 15 · Evening128,085 ac10%8.1 mi NLittle Giant - Level 1 (Get Ready)
Aug 15 · Morning128,085 ac10%8.1 mi Noutside all zones
Aug 14 · Evening128,085 ac7%8.1 mi Noutside all zones
Aug 14 · Morning128,085 ac2197%8.1 mi Noutside all zones
Aug 13 · Evening128,304 ac+5335%8.1 mi Noutside all zones
Aug 13 · Morning127,771 ac+2835%8.1 mi Noutside all zones
Aug 12 · Evening127,488 ac5%8.6 mi NNWoutside all zones
Aug 12 · Morning127,488 ac+5,0875%8.6 mi NNWoutside all zones
Aug 11 · Evening122,401 ac2%8.6 mi NNWoutside all zones
Aug 11 · Morning122,401 ac+5,4452%8.6 mi NNWoutside all zones
Aug 10 · Evening116,956 ac2%8.6 mi NNWoutside all zones

Sources

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The limits of this page

This page is an automated, unofficial synthesis and can be wrong or stale. It is not a substitute for official alerts. For live evacuation status use Watch Duty, Chelan County Emergency Management, and Everbridge alerts. In an emergency, follow instructions from local authorities.