Rainfall cools off Copper King Fire

Steady rain was falling Tuesday on the Copper King Fire east of Thompson Falls, capping a stretch of cool, cloudy days that have given firefighters a chance to strengthen containment lines and begin demobilizing personnel and equipment.

A Type 2 Incident Command Team replaced Greg Poncin’s Type 1 team Monday night, and crews reported 70 percent containment around the fire by Tuesday morning.

However, all evacuations and pre-evacuation alerts still remain in effect.

Fire team information officer Tom Rhode said a wetting rain totaling about 0.15 inches fell on the fire Sunday night, and the added moisture on Tuesday means the team may not need to burn out fuels in the Munson Creek drainage. Officials last week had worried that more active fire behavior could push the flames east over the ridge and into adjacent drainages.

The uncontained fire front has remained east of the creek Munson Creek farther north along Todd Creek.

Firefighters spent Tuesday mopping up existing containment lines and extending fire lines in case a change in the weather necessitates future burnout operations.

“For the foreseeable future here and through the weekend, it’s supposed to be cool, with fairly high relative humidities,” Rhode said. “They’re not talking about a season-ending event in the forecast, but this certainly is a season-slowing event right now.”

He added that the weekend’s rains had dramatically improved air quality in Thompson Falls and the surrounding towns, which had been registering unhealthy levels of smoke in the air during the first half of last week.

More than a month after the wildfire was first reported, the cause has yet to be determined. The fire has covered 28,534 acres since it began July 31.

The firefighting force is down to 500 people. Suppression costs so far have totaled $23.9 million.

For more information and scheduled community meetings, visit inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4912.