Smoke From The West Quiets Fool Creek Fire Late Sa
Incident: Fool Creek Wildland Fire Used for Resource Benefit
Released: 8/4/2007
Choteau, Mont., Aug. 4, 2007, 5 p.m.--It was drier than forecasted at the Fool Creek, west of Choteau, but the fire didn't rise to the occasion thanks to smoke from fires to the west.
Humidity fell to as low as eight percent in the lower elevations of the fire area, but smoke from the west and northwest shaded the Fool Creek fire.
Still, a red-flag warning remains in effect until 10 p.m. Saturday.
The top priority for the fire's helicopters on Saturday was to drop water from buckets on spot fires west of Mt. Lockhart and in the head of Olney and Nesbitt creeks.
On Sunday spots fires off the Corrugate Ridge, on the fire's northeast flank at the head of Crazy Creek, will be also be paid visits by the helicopters along with Mt. Lockhart and the Olney and Nesbitt creek areas.
Saturday firefighters also ran pumps at the Sabido cabin, to keep the area moist. The cabin is about a mile off the fire's current northern flank.
Saturday afternoon, officials estimated that the Fool Creek fire had burned 27,231 acres.
The weather forecast calls for a weak cold front to come from the north after sunset. With it comes cooler, moister air that is expected to quiet the fire for a few days. Light east winds, 5 to 10 miles per hour with gusts to 15 miles per hour are forecast for Sunday morning, shifting to southeast winds by the afternoon.
Humidity at ridgetops should stay above 30 percent on Sunday. There will be increasing cloud cover and a chance of showers or thundershowers. Monday is forecast to be similar to Sunday, and by Tuesday conditions will get warmer and drier again.
Officials expect that the fire won't grow over the next few days, but also expect to see torching of trees and some short-range spot fires to develop. The cooler weather will allow the helicopters to go to work earlier in the day.
