Condon fire crews hold fire lines

Six helicopters hit hotspots on the 1,500 acre Condon Mountain Fire on Monday, a day where fire crews transitioned preventative burning to putting out hotspots and maintaining their current fire lines.

“We’re taking a very strong stand to contain this fire where it’s at,” said fire information officer Kristen Baker.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks closed Lindbergh Lake to recreational use on Monday due to the increased need for a safe place for air tankers to pick up water.

Crews spent all weekend starting and controlling small burns within their perimeter lines, which consist of the Dog Creek and Condon Creek drainages and Forest Service Road 10513.

“We were concerned that if it burned independently of our control then it would take our fire lines,” Baker said.

With a height of 139 staffing the fire over the weekend, Monday the crew was down to 113 members. Baker said it’s part of the transition from actively trying to reduce fuels by igniting areas that are at a high risk of burning to focusing on hotspots burning inside their perimeters and holding their fire lines.

The fire was started by a lightning strike and spotted on July 30.

The terrain of the Condon Mountain Fire is steep and rocky. Baker said it’s extremely difficult to attack the fire directly and compared it to last year’s South Fork Lost Creek Fire. That fire burned in the eastern portion of the Swan Valley in terrain very similar to the one outside of Condon.

Fuels built up under the boulders are impossible to get water to and will most likely smolder and burn until the snows of winter can put them out. Aerial water drops have helped target hotspots in terrain that can’t be attacked directly.

“They’ll mop up as much as possible within those perimeters,” Baker said. “A hundred percent mop up of the area is not possible.”

For now the fire sits at about 20 percent contained.

Baker said the steep and rocky terrain also makes holding fire lines dangerous for the fire crews because burning rocks and trees can come rolling down the mountainsides. Their job is to make sure the rolling debris doesn’t jump the fire lines and start new fires.

“The crew’s been very good at catching those things thus far, but we will not put them in a situation that compromises their safety,” Baker said.

The wet weather forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday is expected to keep the fire activity at a minimum, but warmer drier weather is expected on Thursday. Tuesday night Condon Mountain Fire information officers and fire managers met with the Condon Community Council during their regularly scheduled meeting to provide updates on the fire.