Chippy Creek Fire Update 08/23/07 7:00 AM
Incident: Chippy Creek Wildland Fire
Released: 8/23/2007
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. The fire is reported to be at 96,154 acres with thirty five percent containment.
A tour of fire camp in Plains is scheduled from 4 to 7 pm today. Visitors are asked to park in the area designated for this event. Parking attendants will direct traffic to those locations. Access the fire camp in Plains by turning south on Central Avenue and follow signs. Please note that the last day for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Information Trailer at Lonepine will Friday (8/24).
Yesterday's Activities:
Crews stayed out on the line overnight, following a burnout operation to secure the southwest corner of the fire. A dozer line was completed to seal off the Alder Creek portion of the fire. Conditions did not allow the planned burnout on the northwest side of the fire. Progress was made on establishing the fire camp at Marion. Fire fighters moved from the camp at Big Prairie to Marion last night. Two twenty person crews arrived from Manitoba Canada and worked on the north side of the fire. The public meeting at Marion was attended by over 90 people, while about 45 attended the meeting in Hot Springs.
Today's Planned Activities:
Securing fire lines on the northwest and southwest corners is still a priority. Crews will continue burnout operations when conditions are favorable and safe to proceed. They will look for opportunities to build direct (right next to the black) fireline whenever possible to do in a safe manner. All spots will be lined and mopped up completely.
Resources assigned: 10 hand crews (20 people each), 33 engines, 34 pieces of heavy equipment, 15 water tenders and 4 helicopters for a total of 637 personnel.
Weather and Fire Behavior: Higher temperatures (70s) and lower humidity (low to mid 20s) are forecast for today. The fire may be more active than yesterday. Opportunities for direct attack may still be favorable on north and east aspects. Periods of sunshine today will produce slightly higher fire activity on the south and west aspects.
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.
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: Protecting your property from wildfire 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 other 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, and Plum Creek Timberlands.
