The evacuation zone around the Jenny Creek Road fire as of Thursday morning. For more information, visit https://rb.gy/hiegf. Photo Officials with the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency announced at 9:45 p.m. that fire crews battling the Jenny Creek Road Fire north of La Center had contained the blaze enough to allow residents of the Green Level 1 and Yellow Level 2 evacuation zones to return home with caution. The announcement stressed that areas within Red Level 3 are still not clear and the evacuation orders stand. The blaze started with a house fire in a rural area north of La Center that spread to surrounding brush, prompting fire officials to call for evacuations that reached into the city itself. Dispatchers with Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency were initially using a reverse 911 system to reach residences about a Level 3 GO NOW evacuation zone within a half-mile of the fire in the hilly wooded area.

The map was revised later Wednesday evening to create a Level 1 BE READY zone as well as a Level 2 GET SET zone around the fire. A dynamically updated version of the evacuation map is available at https://rb.gy/hiegf. Additional fire updates are available at www.cresa911.org An evacuation assembly area for impacted residents is being set up at the Ilani Casino RV parking area.  The CRESA EOC call center is open until 11:00 PM and can take questions pertaining to evacuations, mapping, animal assistance, sheltering, and more at 360-992-9229. The fire was reported at 3:38 p.m. at a residence in the 37000 block of Northeast Jenny Creek Road, according to emergency dispatch records. Crews arriving found a house on fire that had spread to nearby trees and kindled a number of spot fires in the area, according to emergency radio traffic.

As of about 4:30 p.m. a helicopter overflight estimated the fire area at approximately 3 acres. Helicopters were also used for water drops on hot spots. It was unknown as of just before 6 p.m. if any other structures were damaged. Firefighters called for additional units, including brush rigs, water tenders, a hand crew from Larch Corrections Center and water-dropping helicopters to address the spot fires as they continued to spread. Additional fire engines were requested early Wednesday evening. Crews were receiving support from the Washington Department of Natural Resources, as well as fire departments in Cowlitz County and as far away as Vancouver.