It's up to Mother Nature now

A massive fire break is finished, so It all comes down to weather on the Sun Dog Fire north of Whitefish.

During the past few days, dozers and clippers and skidders have been working to clear a 70-foot-wide swath along existing forest roads to the north and east of the 615-acre fire that's burning below the Whitefish Divide in the Coal Creek drainage.

Most of the work has been aimed at heading off the type eastward run into the North Fork Flathead that many fires have demonstrated, dating back to 1910. A similar fire break was built in 2003 to stop the Wedge Canyon Fire, but it was unsuccessful. In a single day, the fire crossed the fire break, Teepee Lake, the North Fork Road and the North Fork River into Glacier National Park.

"The heavy equipment show is over," said fire information officer Pat McKelvey. "We had 77 pieces of equipment in there at one point."

The fire break is roughly three to four miles long, and it was reinforced with retardant drops Monday, while helicopters dropped water directly on active fire fronts. Hand crews have been limited in their ability to safely approach the fire, which is burning on mostly steep terrain.

Cooler weather arrived late last week, allowing for construction of the fire break. And it was finished just in time - there's a red-flag warning for high winds, starting Monday night and continuing through this evening.

A forecaster assigned to the fire was projecting winds of 20 mph with gusts as strong as 40 mph, McKelevey said.

"We'll see how that line holds up," he said.

Close to 100 Canadian firefighters arrived in the Flathead during the weekend. They were put through a fire safety course Sunday in Kalispell. Half were dispatched to other fires in Northwest Montana, while half were sent to the Sun Dog Fire.

The largest fire burning in the region is the 1,150-acre Ulm Peak Fire. Located about 12 miles southwest of Noxon, the fire likely is contributing to smoky skies in the Flathead.

The 318-acre Holland Peak Fire continued to be active about five miles east of Condon. There has been little perimeter growth on the fire in recent days, with most of the burning limited to the fire's interior.

Because of the fire's location high on the Swan Mountain Range, firefighting efforts have been limited to water drops to prevent it from burning downslope, into the Swan Valley.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com