Fire nears containment Chippy Creek Fire may be under control by Monday

Officials on the Chippy Creek Fire are estimating that the blaze will be fully contained by Monday.

Favorable weather earlier this week allowed crews to make large gains, they said.

"We don't put out those dates unless we think we can meet them," said fire information officer Dixie Dies.

The 96,828 acre fire, which is about three quarters the size of Flathead Lake, was 40 percent contained late Friday.

However, a possible red flag warning today could send that timetable awry. A dry cold front is expected to roll over the area sometime today, bringing with it a lower relative humidity and higher winds.

"There will probably be a wind ahead of it, so it'll probably be a pretty good test on those lines," said fire information officer Mike Cole.

Crews conducted burnout operations Friday north of the Hubbart Reservoir on the fire's northeast side and near Big Rock Creek on the fires northwest side. They also sealed off a portion of the fire near Alder Creek and continued mop up on the fire's quieter southwest side.

Two teams from Manitoba, Canada have been at work on the Chippy Creek Fire since Wednesday. One crew was conducting a 10-acre burnout on the fire's northeast sector Friday.

"Our fire season usually ends the middle of August, so we can come down and help here," said Jim Martinuk, a representative of the crew on the fire's northeast side.

The Canadian crews are used to access to more water, fewer roads and smaller hills, but were getting along fine at Chippy Creek, he said.

"But we're proficient with the hand tool and chain saw work," he added.

As his crew eliminated a pocket of green vegetation between the main fire and the containment line, Jason Dubery, based in Bissett, Manitoba, watched the slowly rolling flames to make sure nothing jumped the containment line.

"We're doing this backburn to kind of straighten out the fire line," said Dubery, who started fighting wildfires this year. "It's really nice to come down and get the experience right away."

Flames swirled around blackened trees as a changing breeze blew smoke across the logging road, pressed into service as a containment line, and down the hillside.

Officials are in the midst of moving the main fire camp from plains to Marion. It was about 50 percent relocated Friday afternoon, Dies said.

Suppression operations are currently being run out of both camps, but as containment becomes a reality the Marion camp will run more suppression operations against Brush Creek's more active northeast front while the Marion camp begins rehabilitation efforts. Rehabilitation includes planting trees and erasing bulldozer lines.

Full containment also reduces the immediate danger to area homes. Damage to private property has been at a minimum, officials said.

Firefighters have only lost two structures in the area. One was a geological gauging station and the other was a home. Both went up in flames on Aug. 12.

Residents along Hubbard Dam Road from the Niarada Road intersection to the Hubbard Dam subdivision remain under an evacuation order.

Officials also haven't received reports of lost cattle, although one calf did come out of the fire looking "a little singed," Cole said.

Chippy Creek's expected containment doesn't mean the fire will be going away anytime soon, officials warned.

"This is going to be smoking until the snow falls," Cole said. "They don't just go away with a little rain fall. You need a season-ending weather event."

On average, those weather events tend to happen near the middle of September, he said.

"But I like thinking that the season ending event is like a crap shoot," Cole said. "You never really know when it's going to happen."

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com