Strawberry, Crucifixion Creek Fires Update 9-14-17 12:30pm

Public meeting tonight at 6pm at the Dupuyer Community Hall

On the Flathead NF, the Strawberry Fire was fairly quiet today. The fire continued to burn in the upper reaches of Strawberry Creek. The fire has remained on top of the ridge between Cap Mountain and Winter Points and has not yet progressed down into Cox Creek. The area closure was expanded on 9/12 to include the Cox Creek drainage. Fire monitoring and structure protection continue at Sabido Cabin.

On the Helena-Lewis and Clark NF, the Strawberry Fire was kept in check 1/2 mile east of the dam and remains north of Sheep Creek. It is still on state land and has not crossed onto private land. Crews had a productive day constructing dozer and handline in addition to chasing and containing some spot fires. The crews were also supported by helicopter bucket work.

Rain began falling in the area last evening, and late this morning, all evacuation orders were lifted.

The Crucifixion Creek fire showed moderate behavior and minimal growth, although there is still a fair amount of activity on its southern flank.

The Strawberry, Scalp and Crucifixion Fires are being managed by a Type-3 Incident Management Team based out of Choteau, MT. The strategy for these fires is confine and contain due to their remote location, fire/fuel break from recent fire events, and limited availability of ground/aerial resources resulting from a large number of fires throughout the Western States.