Chippy Creek Fire Morning Update: Sept. 4

By Chippy Creek Fire Information, Guest Writer, 9-04-07

Update:  September 4, 2007, 7:00 AM
Fire Information:  Vickie Guthrie (406) 854-2187
Incident Commander:  Jess Secrest
Plains Information Center (406) 826-9009
Start Date:  7/31/07
Cost to Date:  $17,900,000
Cause:  Under Investigation
Containment:  100 percent
Acres:  99,090 acres
Date of Containment:  September 3, 2007

The Chippy Creek Fire is located 20 miles north of Plains and 12 miles north/northwest of Hot Springs, Montana.  Jess Secrest’s Type 2 Northern Rockies Incident Management Team is fighting the fire.

The Chippy Creek fire is now 100% contained.

Yesterday’s Activities:  Even with temperatures in the 90’s on Monday, fire activity was minimal and firefighters were able to meet the estimated containment date.  The fire continued to smolder, creep, and hold heat in heavy dry fuels, but crews made good progress with mop up along the perimeter of the fire.  Rehabilitation efforts on the southern, western and northern portions of the perimeter proceeded.  Good progress was made by crews working along Alder Creek at the southeast portion of the fire, an area that has been holding a significant amount of fire in heavy fuels.

Today’s Planned Activities:  Mop up of the firelines and hotspots will continue.  The priority will be in the Alder Creek drainage.  The west and east perimeters will be in patrol status.  Aerial resources will support crews where needed.  Crews will continue to remove excess fire hose, no longer required.  Rehabilitation will continue in the southern, western, and northern areas of the fire.

Resources assigned:  7 hand crews (20 people each), 27 engines, 5 dozers, 23 water tenders, and 4 helicopters for a total of 541 personnel.

Weather Forecast and Fire Behavior:  Increasing cloudiness and breezy along ridgetops.  A cold front passes through the area mid morning.  Temperatures will be in the low to mid 70’s on ridges, with humidity 26 to 32 percent.  Morning ridgetop winds will be west 6 to 8 mph, with gusts to 20 mph, changing to northwest 8 to 12 mph with 22 mph gusts in the afternoon.  Smoke will be seen in most areas of the fire as it continues to smolder and creep throughout the interior, where unburned islands of fuel will actively burn as the temperature increases today.

Closures:  Although previously evacuated residents along the Hubbart dam road have been allowed to return home, roads north of the fire and south of Hwy. 2 remain closed to the general public due to fire traffic.  Closures will be re-assessed in the near future. The area and road closure order for National Forest System lands, within the fire area, remains in effect and includes, in part, the following roads:  Bold Peak #5583, Big Rock Bassoo #5574, Big Rock Creek #881, Chippy Creek #882, Bear Creek #883, and Little Thompson River #519.  For more details, visit the Lolo National Forest website at www.fs.fed.us/r1/lolo or call Chippy Creek fire information (406) 854-2187.

Public Meetings:  The next community meeting is scheduled at the Hot Springs Elementary School in Hot Springs, Wednesday, September 5, 2007, at 7:00 PM.  The public is invited to attend.

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.

Editor’s note: As part of our fire coverage, NewWest.Net is posting here the email updates and press releases we get directly from fire camps as we get them. These do not replace our ongoing full coverage of the fires at www.newwest.net/fire, but supplement the information you get throughout the day with the updates we get throughout the day. We aim to give you all the information we get and here it is in its “unfiltered” form. For full stories, check back often at www.newwest.net/fire and continue to look for these updates from fire camps in the link box on the right-hand side of the page.

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