Little Giant FirePlain, Washington

Little Giant Fire

September 8, 2026 · Morning report · Plain, Washington

Data captured Sep 8, 8:11 AM PDT · unofficial & automated — in an emergency use Watch Duty and official alerts, not this page

This is an archived report from September 8, 2026 · Morning. Read the latest brief →

Quiet cycle: the GIS perimeter ticked up 68 acres to 171,526 (81% held), no zone near the house was touched, and the nearest edge stayed at 5.2 mi NNE. Winds turn light and favorable through midweek, and air quality improved further to good.

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 size171,526 ac+68 since last report
Contained81%of the perimeter, per NIFC
Nearest fire edge5.2 miNNE of the house · as of Sep 8, 6:04 AM PDT
Satellite heat, 24 h22.2 minearest detection, NNW of the house · 8 in the surrounding ~50 mi
Air quality22 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 8, 6:04 AM 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

The GIS perimeter grew marginally to 171,526 acres, 81% contained (current perimeter dated Sep 8, 6:04 AM PDT, about 2 hours old at capture) — a +68-acre tick from last night, well within the mapping noise this fire has shown at this containment level. InciWeb's latest post, timestamped Sep 7, 10:56 PM PDT, still carries the prior GIS figure (171,458 acres, 81% contained) — the usual lag between the narrative update and the GIS refresh. Personnel dropped to 795 total (31 engines, 19 crews, 18 heavy equipment, down from 844), with Complex Incident Management NW Team 12 still in command (IC Jeff Dimke). Fire behavior stays creeping and smoldering, with isolated flare-ups possible around Trinity–Twin Lakes, Stormy/Baldy Mountain, and Cougar Creek. A KPQ radio item found via general search (unconfirmed — direct fetch was egress-blocked, headline and summary only) describes crews building firebreaks above Twin Lakes and clearing hazard trees in the Chiwawa River drainage, consistent with a holding fire in mop-up and repair. The Sep 4 closure order (06-17-07-2026-40) remains in effect for the Wenatchee River/Entiat/Chelan Ranger Districts; Sep 5 was the Army's last day supporting the incident.

No zone anywhere on the perimeter was edited in the last 24 hours. The Level 1 ring closest to the house holds at 2.0 mi NNE (unedited since Sep 1), and the nearest Level 3 ring is unchanged at 5.1 mi N (last edited Sep 3, 2:31 PM). Nothing here trips the tracker's alert condition.

Heat detections continue the familiar pattern: the two persistent, multi-day clusters at 6.1 mi NE (5 detections/2 days) and 6.7 mi NE (4 detections/3 days) sit inside the fire's existing interior, aging as their oldest days roll out of the satellite archive window. The recurring single-detection cluster at 8.5 mi NNE (Sep 1, persistent: false) is unchanged and still uncorroborated — the same rolling-window artifact flagged over many prior cycles. A fourth cluster, 11.8 mi NW, showed 8 detections over two days as recently as last night's run (max FRP 6.87, persistent: true); it now reads as a single Sep 1 detection (persistent: false) purely because its Aug 31 day aged out of the window — its coordinates sit right at the fire's own mapped perimeter edge in that area, consistent with residual interior heat rather than a new start, and it is well away from any approach toward the house. The nearest genuine detection region-wide in the last 24 hours is 22.2 mi NNW (FRP 3.27, nominal confidence) — no fresh heat near Plain.

lakewenatcheeinfo.com again returned no usable content (recurring bot-challenge), and Lake Chelan Now's homepage has no Little Giant coverage. The Chelan County EM active-emergencies page could not be reached this cycle (blocked by this environment's network policy, expected egress behavior). wasmoke.blogspot.com's most recent post is still Sep 4 (unchanged), describing improved air quality and a relaxed fire environment through the weekend. A general search turned up nothing dated to today beyond the items above; older results citing acreages from 70,000 up through 171,302 and evacuation-zone expansions near Plain and Lake Wenatchee are stale articles from earlier growth stages and are not reported here.

Fire weather

Wind regime is light and mixed today rather than a clear push either way: NE 0–3 mph (near-calm, direction barely matters at that speed), sunny, high 78. The pattern turns solidly westerly and favorable — pushing the fire east, away from Plain — through midweek: tonight NW 2 mph, Wednesday W 1–6 mph, Wednesday night NW 7 mph, Thursday W 7–15 mph (gusts to 25). A chance of rain arrives Friday night (30%) and Saturday (50%, with a chance of thunderstorms) — the clearest precipitation signal in recent briefs, though still several days out. No NWS fire weather alerts are in effect.

Air quality

Modeled AQI at the house is 22 (PM2.5 4.8 µg/m³, PM10 5 µg/m³) — good, improved from 39 last evening. No air quality alert is posted.

Roads: no new road blocks logged.

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 GiantLevel 35.1 mi N (357°)Sep 3, 2:31 PM PDT
Little GiantLevel 314.3 mi NE (48°)Sep 3, 2:33 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

  • TodayNE 0 to 3 mphSunny · 78°F
  • TonightNW 2 mphMostly Clear · 45°F
  • WednesdayW 1 to 6 mphSunny · 82°F
  • Wednesday NightNW 7 mphMostly Cloudy · 49°F
  • ThursdayW 7 to 15 mphMostly Sunny · 71°F
  • Thursday NightNW 5 to 12 mphMostly Clear · 40°F
  • FridaySW 1 to 5 mphMostly Sunny · 69°F
  • Friday NightNW 0 to 3 mphChance Rain Showers · 40°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

Previous briefs

Full archive →

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.