Crews attacking TCC on all sides

HOPE — Work is continuing on all sides of the Trestle Creek Complex with firefighters bringing containment of the seven-week-old fire to 40%.

The fire, located 4 miles north of Hope, has burned 6,674 acres since it was sparked by a lightning storm on July 7.

"Crews have been able to hit the fire directly and have put in a lot of hand line in to shore up the containment line," Dorothy Harvey, Nevada Incident Management Team 4 public information officer, said. "More heat spots were found [Friday], but while they were outside the perimeter, they were within the containment lines."

While forest and road closures, as well as fire restrictions, remain in effect, Harvey said the perimeter has been significantly reduced in size.

"Recent weather has significantly moderated fire behavior," U.S. Forest Service officials said in an update posted to their Facebook page. "[T]he area closed reflects only what is needed to safely conduct suppression operations on more active parts of the fire and suppression repair work on cold containment lines.

Recent cooler weather has brought along wetting rains, which aided firefighters' efforts, Nevada IMT4 meteorologist Lamont Bain said in a video update of efforts on the Trestle Creek Complex fires.

The complex received anywhere for three-tenths to a half-inch of rain over the past few days, which proved beneficial to firefighting efforts, Bain said in a video update on the complex.

That rain helped fire crews continue to gain on the fire, bringing containment to 40%.

"Does that mean the fire is completely extinguished?" he said. "Absolutely not. "There's still some areas of heat and smoke in there. What the rain has allowed is it is going to give the firefighters a better chance to be more efficient in their tactics."

While recent cool weather and rains have helped, Bain said the region looks to return to drier and warmer weather for the first part of the week. A potential return to cooler weather with wetting rains is possible around Wednesday, he said.

With bear hunting season starting, Harvey asked residents to be even more careful than normal since there are still firefighters and equipment in the woods. She noted that most of 438 firefighters assigned to the complex are camped out on the mountain in order to be closer to where they are working.

"Make sure of what you are shooting at before you pull the trigger," she said.

The 438 firefighters include 14 hand crews, 16 engines, three dozers, 2 feller bunches, two excavators, one masticator, four water tenders and three helicopters.

Sunday is Nevada IMT 4’s last day and the team will turn management of the fire over to a group of familiar faces with  Nevada IMT 3 be back for the third time.

For more information, go online to the Idaho Panhandle Nation Forest's Facebook page, facebook.com/USFSIPNF and Inciweb, inciweb.nwcg.gov.