SPOKANE, Wash. — Nearly a month after the Upriver Fire destroyed 14 homes, Camp Sekani remains closed to the public during what is typically the busiest season of the year.
The Department of Natural Resources will send crews to the park this week to clean up fire damage and remove hazardous trees, according to a Spokane Parks and Recreation spokesperson. However, the agency has not announced a reopening date for the popular recreation area.
Spokane Parks and Recreation staff visited the camp last week. hey say trails are still damaged from the fire. The camp’s disc golf course is in good shape.
For one man who was travelling to Camp Sekani from out of town, he was shocked to see it was still closed. Andrew Griffin brought his mountain bike expecting to ride the trails.
“I had taken a road trip from Mount Vernon from the other side of the state of Washington to come on over here to ride here… and I get here and find out that Beacon Hill is closed,” Griffin said.
Griffin said he searched online before making the trip but did not notice that Camp Sekani was closed.
“I was a bit disappointed when I got here. I wish there was some way that they could have let people know,” he said.
While Camp Sekani remains off-limits, Minnehaha Park and Shields Park on the west side of Beacon Hill are still open to the public. However, the Spokane Fire Department’s Wildland Resource Planner says people should steer clear from the part that was burned from the fire and the unburned bottom of Camp Sekani, because trees are expected to fall over the coming weeks.
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