Firefighters winning against area fires

HOPE — Firefighting efforts on the Trestle Creek Complex are making advances toward containment.

As of Tuesday, the complex is 15% contained, and has burned approximately 6,600 acres. The fire 4 miles north of Hope is being fought by 272 firefighting personnel from Nevada Type 3 Incident Management Team. They are using seven hand crews, 20 engines, three dozers and helicopters, four water tenders to continue expanding containment lines.

All evacuation orders have been lifted for the area, but people are asked to continue avoiding the roads in the area. For a complete list of affected roads and additional information go to inciweb.nwcg.gov and search Trestle Creek Complex.

The two fires burning around Troy, Mont. — the Burnt Peak and South Yaak fires — have burned 16,437 acres. The Burnt Peak fire is 29% contained as of Tuesday evening. The larger of the two, the South Yaak fire, is 72% contained. Authority over South Yaak will be handed over from Great Basin Incident Management Team 5 to local oversight on Wednesday. Oversight over the Burnt Peak fire will transition to a new incident management team at some point in the next few days. Both fires are showing little activity.

Containment on the Stateline Complex has grown to 35%. A crew of 155 personnel continues to patrol and use heavy equipment on the 12,757-acre fire. Road closures remain in place for the area. The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office has issued a new road closure for St. Joe River Road.

The Character complex is 40% contained and stands at 12,259 acres. Burning three miles north of Kellogg, the Type 3 Incident Management Team is using 321 personnel to expand on the containment lines. Kings Pass Road remains closed. Coeur d’Alene River Road, Old River Road, Prichard Creek Road, Thompson Pass Road, and Beaver Creek Road are open. Areas around the fire have been moved to “ready” status with the exception of Murray and Eagle.

For more information on any fire burning in the U.S. go to the Incident Management Website at inciweb.nwcg.gov. For information on where smoke in the air is coming from, go to fire.airnow.gov.