Chippy Creek Update 08/17/07 7:00 AM
Incident: Chippy Creek Wildland Fire
Released: 8/17/2007
The Chippy Creek Fire is located 20 miles north of Plains and 12 miles north/northwest of Hot Springs, Montana and is being managed by Wally Bennett's Type 1, Northern Rockies Interagency Incident Management Team.
Yesterday's Activities: Fire fighters continued work to strengthen the fireline and anchor the southwest corner. An inversion hampered air operations and prevented planned burnout operations on the southwest corner. Fire line explosives were used to construct fire line in the northwest corner. Spotting occurred outside the north line in some locations, and crews quickly contained them. Poor visibility throughout the day limited air operations, however, seven thousand gallons of water were dropped on the fire. A night shift of engines patrolled the east edge of the fire. A public meeting was held in Hot Springs last evening.
Today's Planned Activities: Crews will be preparing, building, and reinforcing control lines for solid anchors in the northwest and southwest sides as crews push east. Explosive fireline construction may be utilized again in some locations. Burnouts will occur, weather allowing. Concentrated efforts will be applied to all spot fires. Night operations, with engines, will continue on the east and southwest areas of the fire.
Resources assigned: 8 Hand Crews, 33 engines, 14 dozers, 38 pieces of other heavy equipment, and 4 helicopters for a total of 579 personnel.
Weather and Fire Behavior: Today's weather forecast calls for temperatures in the eighties and relative humidity in the upper teens. Winds are expected to be from the southwest at 6-10 miles per hour with gusts to 20 mph. Expected morning inversions should limit large fire behavior, and the fire should be more affected by slope and terrain.
Evacuations: Residents along the Hubbard Dam Road from the junction with the Niarada Road north to the Hubbard Dam Subdivision remain under an evacuation order.
Total Flight Restrictions: The total flight restriction remains in place over the fire. Pilots should be aware that there are seven aircrafts over this incident and more than one hundred in the air over fires within the region.
The Department of Environmental Quality recommends using local visibility guidelines to evaluate possible health risks and make informed activity decisions. This information is available at http://www.deq.state.mt.us/FireUpdates/index.asp . Information on protecting your property from wildfire can be found at: http://www.firewise.org/fw youcanuse/index.htm
Chippy Creek Fire information is posted on the Lolo National Forest website: www.fs.fed.us/r1/lolo. For further information on wildland fire activity see: http://www.inciweb.org/ or http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/siterprt.pdf .
Cooperating Agencies: Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Sanders, Flathead and Lake Counties, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Lolo National Forest, Plum Creek Timberlands.
