The 25,300-acre fire on the north shore of Lake Chelan was 30 percent contained Wednesday, after the blaze burned through heavy timber in the Joe, Mitchell and Gold creek areas overnight.

"It was increasing acreage as fast as we were decreasing acreage," said Greg Thayer, a Forest Service spokesman. "We weren't winning."

Wednesday's forecast was for hot and dry conditions, with temperatures in the 90s.

More than 1,100 people, some from as far away as Mississippi and New Mexico, have been assigned to the fire, which stretches southeast along the lake more than a dozen miles, primarily in the Wenatchee National Forest.

Seven helicopters worked the fire, including three that were keeping areas cool with water drops as firefighters widened firelines by setting small controlled fires. There were also 63 engines, 12 water tenders and nine bulldozers on scene.

Firefighters have an estimated 32 miles of fireline to complete, and crews are focusing their efforts on the western and eastern flanks of the fire to protect cabins and houses scattered among the steep, rocky slopes.

Evacuation notices and warnings have been issued for 200 homes around Grade Creek and Emerson Acres; Antilon Lake and Mitchell Creek campgrounds; Little Joe Road; and Swanson, Purtteman and Cooper gulches - all areas north of Manson, many of them surrounded by lush, irrigated orchards.

Kristy and Rob Campbell and their three teenage daughters live with horses, goats, dogs, rabbits and a number of animals on Grade Creek Road. She fled with the girls and some of the menagerie over the weekend, while her husband stayed behind, soaking the house and property with sprinklers.

The dry pine and brush-covered slopes on both sides of the road are black where fire raced through early Saturday, but they lost only some fence to the blaze.

"We moved in eight years ago. It's obvious if you're out here, it's going to happen," Kristy Campbell said.

Their house was also in last year's evacuation zone when the Rex Creek fire burned 43,000 acres.

On Tuesday afternoon, about five miles from the Campbells' house, at least a couple of thunder cells formed, then dissipated near ridges of the Sawtooth Mountains, where three large columns of smoke billowed in the heat of the day.

One storm cell briefly forced about 25 firefighters near Cooper Ridge to back away "and let the wind do its weird thing" before they could return to work, Thayer said. Thunderstorms can create erratic and unpredictable winds, particularly on ridges, making it difficult for firefighters to anticipate where the fire will go.

The Deer Point fire was started July 15 by an abandoned campfire. Whipped by winds late last Friday, it doubled in size and burned at least four cabins, three outbuildings, a boat and boat dock, two boat trailers, a travel trailer, and a pickup truck on private land.

Boats docks, picnic shelters and outhouses were damaged or destroyed at the Mitchell Creek and Antilon Lake campgrounds.