A wildfire in Ferry County that was touched off by lightning last week has already torched over 5,500 acres.

The Swawilla Fire ignited on June 17 and is burning in tall grass, brush, and mixed timber approximately nine miles southwest of Keller on the Colville Indian Reservation.

The blaze has prompted evacuation notices for homes in the Kerns Canyon area, including Level 3 notices along Swawilla Basin Road, and Level 2 notices on Manila Creek Road.

It has also forced a six-mile stretch of State Route 21 to close between the Keller Ferry Dock and Manilla Creek Road, and has halted service of the Keller Ferry indefinitely.

There are currently 183 personnel assigned to the blaze, and aerial suppression crews are scooping water from Lake Roosevelt with both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft to make repeated drops.

The fire is currently listed as 0% contained and is predicted to move aggressively in a northerly direction to begin the week.

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Gallery Credit: AJ Brewster

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