CURRENT STATUS

Yesterday fire behavior continued to be moderated by cool and wet weather and minimal movement was observed. Smoke was more visible as the fire continues to burn in heavy dead and down timber within the fire’s perimeter. The precipitation over the past few days has been beneficial to slow the fire’s progression and with the expected moisture over the weekend and early into next week conditions are predicted to maintain current fire behavior. The fire remains near Mink Creek Saddle and Shultz Saddle Road on the northern flank. Crews continue to work on road prep and indirect line construction along Meadow Creek Road to meet the 2017 Myers Fire fuel break. On the southern flank the fire remains north of Hogan Cabin and work on the indirect line is nearing completion and crews are creating a plan for suppression repair work at this time.

The minimal smoke and fire behavior seen over the last couple of days are helpful in firefighting containment efforts. With this weather break crews have not slowed the work to construct indirect line in the event of another warming drying trend. Fire Managers are working to be prepared for this possibility until a season ending event occurs.

The fire is still within containment lines and has not reached the Action Point identified for the ‘Warning’ stage of the Evacuation Plan at this time. As the fire nears this Action Point, Fire Managers and the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Department are prepared for the possibility of moving into this ‘Warning’ stage, although, this is unlikely at this time. For more information on the Ravalli County Evacuation Plan visit the Ravalli County Sheriff’s website at https://ravalli.us/622/Evacuation-Guidelines.

FIRE WEATHER AND BEHAVIOR

Precipitation is predicted to continue through the weekend. Isolated thunderstorms could develop later in the afternoon today with a chance to see nearly a quarter of an inch of rain with the thunderstorms today. Tomorrow could be slightly warmer and drier due to a shift in winds but conditions will not see a great enough change to fire behavior drastically.