Chippy Creek Fire Update 8/26/07 7:00 AM
Incident: Chippy Creek Wildland Fire
Released: 8/26/2007
Update: August 26, 7:00 a.m. Fire Information: Dixie Dies (406) 826-9009
Incident Commander: Wally Bennett Start Date: 7/31/07
Cost to Date: $12,735,000 Cause: Under Investigation
Containment: 70 percent Acres: 99,090 acres
Estimated Date of Containment: August 27th
The Chippy Creek Fire is located 20 miles north of Plains and 12 miles north/northwest of Hot Springs, Montana. Wally Bennett's Type 1 Northern Rockies Interagency Incident Management Team is fighting the fire.
Bennett's team is preparing for a transfer of command with Jess Secrest's Eastern Montana Type 2 team on Monday (8/27).
Yesterday's Activities:
Crews prepared the lines for the forecast wind event associated with the Red Flag warning, aided by aircraft dropping water and retardant on hot spots early in the day. Forty mile per hour winds arrived over the fire by mid-afternoon as firefighters braced themselves to hold the fire from crossing the lines. Several spot fires resulted from the winds. Three of the larger ones were located on the north side of the fire in the Redmond Creek and Clear Creek drainages and one on the south side of the fire was found near the 7915 road in the Little Thompson River drainage. These spots ranged in size from ¼ acre to approximately 20 acres. Crews, dozers and aircraft aggressively attacked these spot fires to control their spread.
Today's Planned Activities:
Crews will focus on mopping up the spot fires that resulted from yesterday's wind event as well as mop up along firelines throughout the fire perimeter. In many locations the focus will be to mop up into the fire a distance of 100 feet from the firelines. The hottest edge of the fire will continue to be on the northern fireline near Redmond and Clear Creeks.
Resources assigned: 11 hand crews (20 people each), 32 engines, 28 pieces of heavy equipment, 17 water tenders and 4 helicopters for a total of 626 personnel.
Weather and Fire Behavior: Temperatures will drop into the 70's today and humidity will rise with the passage of last night's cold front, significantly reducing fire behavior. There will be a slight chance of rain. After today, temperatures will once again rebound as a new high pressure system builds into the area during the week.
Evacuations: Residents along the Hubbard Dam Road from the junction with the Niarada Road north to the Hubbard Dam subdivision were allowed to return home on Friday. The Hubbard dam road remains closed to the general public, because of fire traffic. This closure will be re-assessed early in the week.
Temporary Flight Restrictions: The temporary flight restriction remains in place over the fire. Pilots should be aware that numerous aircraft are working this incident and many more are in the air over fires within the region.
Other information sources: Chippy Creek Fire information is posted on the Lolo National Forest website: www.fs.fed.us/r1/lolo, and on: http://www.inciweb.org/.
Cooperating Agencies: Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Sanders, Flathead and Lake Counties, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Lolo National Forest, and Plum Creek Timberlands.
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