Chippy Creek Fire contained

By NICHOLAS LEDDEN

The Daily Inter Lake

Crews on the Chippy Creek Fire achieved full containment on that fire Monday.

The blaze, located near Marion, was officially halted at 90,090 acres.

"Even with temperatures into the 90s [Monday], they observed surprisingly little fire activity," said fire information officer Vickie Guthrie.

Firefighters continued to mop up isolated hot spots near the fire line while the western and eastern sections of the perimeter were placed on patrol status.

The fire is still most active along the northeast perimeter and the southwestern perimeter near Alder Creek. Pockets of heavy, dry fuels in the fire's interior continued to smolder and creep.

"Things have not changed significantly over the past few days," Guthrie said, adding that rain Saturday evening did help crews make progress on the containment line.

"The rain over the weekend definitely had a bearing on it," she said.

Winds Monday gusted up to 15 mph, but wasn't anything "that proved difficult," Guthrie said.

With the fire now fully contained, crews will step up rehabilitation efforts, she said.

"Rehab will become our primary focus," Guthrie said. Rehabilitation efforts were underway Monday on northern, western, and southern sections of the fire.

Rehabilitation continued to be the main focus for crews on the Brush Creek Fire.

The number of people working on that fire, 23 miles southwest of Whitefish, dropped to 165.

Crews built water bars and pulled logs and slash over fire lines in an effort to prevent erosion and maintain the quality of groundwater. Officials estimate there are 100 miles of hand and bulldozer lines that need to be rehabilitated. About 15 miles have been completed thus far.

"It's going to be a while," said fire information officers Ema Braunberger. "But they're on top of it. It's a big job."

Higher temperatures and gusty winds caused the northern section of the fire to pick up a little bit Monday, but posed no serious threat, Braunberger said. The Brush Creek Fire was fully contained Aug. 26 at 29,921 acres.

The Skyland Fire, located about 32 miles east of Kalispell near Marias Pass, remained at 45,760 acres and 75 percent containment Monday.

The fire continued to active in the interior, where there are still islands of unburned fuels, said fire information officer Sandra Hare.

"It was very active today," she said. "But it was well in the interior so it's nothing to worry about."

A Red Flag warning, which comes with high temperatures, low humidity, and gusty winds, was issued for the area.

Crews continued monitoring hot spots as total personnel on the fire dropped to less than 100.

"In most of the areas there already conducting mop up activities," Hare said.

Progress was also made on other wildland fires across northwest Montana on Monday. The Ahorn Fire, now at 51,654 acres, is 20 percent contained and the Fool Creek Fire, now at 57,970 acres, is 30 percent contained. Both fires are in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

The Conger Fire, about 20 miles north of Ovando, is 21,900 acres and 0 percent contained. The Jocko Lakes Fire is now 36,152 acres and 92 percent contained.

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