No new fires reported over weekend

No new fires resulted from the weekend’s forecasted lightning, according to fire officials.

In an email on Monday from the Division of Fire, extreme winds that were also forecasted “didn’t materialize.”

Smoke from area wildfires cleared up over the weekend and into the first part of the week, allowing aerial and ground crews “to take aggressive action to check spread of the ongoing wildfires.”

In a stark difference from the months of unseasonably hot weather, cold and possible wet weather is expected Thursday and Friday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Liberty fire measured at 27,028 acres in size, while the Black Fire was at 1,427 acres.

The Black Fire is located in the South Fork of the Jocko near the Liberty Fire and has no closures in place.

South Fork of the Jocko Primitive Area remains closed.

The main Jocko Road is closed above the South Fork Primitive Area Gate, and the North Fork Jocko area closure is in place and includes the trail systems into the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness.

Crews took advantage of the clearer air Monday along with the winds from the west and northwest, attacking the fire with retardant and water drops.

The Blue Bay Fire was reported at 480 acres in size. There is heat in Teepee Creek that will be monitored with helicopter bucket drops as well as an engine crew.

The Midway Fire, south of St. Ignatius, is contained and holding at 630 acres.

Patrols for both the Blue Bay and Midway fires will continue.

The Rice Ridge Fire measured at 139.502 acres Tuesday afternoon, with a 33 percent containment.

The fire line in the Seeley Lake area was reported as becoming more stable each day, according to inciweb.gov.

The evacuation in zone 5 of Seeley Lake has been downgraded to an evacuation warning as of Tuesday.

Zone 5 affects six homes and is adjacent to Seeley Lake in Powell County, north of the airport.

All of Seeley Lake proper is still under an evacuation warning.