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Bayview's Bernard Fire downgraded

| September 26, 2020 1:00 AM

BAYVIEW — Thanks to a heavy dose of rain, firefighters were again able to make strong gains on area wildfires.

The Bernard fire, located overlooking Echo Bay on the south shore of Lake Pend Oreille, was downgraded to a Type 4 and the fire is being turned over to the Sandpoint Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, U.S. Forest Service officials said in a press release.

The fire has been checked around its perimeter and progress on containment, combined with minimal fire behavior has resulted in the downgrade.

On the Callahan Fire, located about nine miles west of Troy near the Idaho/Montana border, also benefited from the rainy weather with containment increasing to 66%.

However, fire crews had to disengage from working in the interior area of the wildfire, due to strong winds. Firefighters carefully patrolled the perimeter for any activity and were able to complete chipping operations along Road 427, USFS officials said.

While the three-quarters of an inch of rain received in the fire area during the day Thursday helped crews make progress on fighting the fire, it also resulted in some slick and impassable roads in the area.

"Fire spread has decreased dramatically over the past couple of days," officials said. "Patrol and mop up with be ongoing. Firefighters and heavy equipment will continue to pile debris from line construction as weather allows."

Burning in the South Callahan Creek area, south of Smith Mountain, the Callahan Fire is expected to be continued in late October. Burning in steep, rocky ground in an early 1990s burn, the fire is expanding into areas of continuous live and dead fuel, some of which has not had disturbed for 70 years.