Cooler temps aid wildland firefighters

AVERY — Cooler temperatures and higher relative humidity are expected to slow the spread of area wildfires.

Officials said rainy conditions helped firefighters to construct containment lines around the Stateline Complex this week.

The complex is burning on the St. Joe Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, to the south and west of the Idaho-Montana state line.

The Tumbledown fire, the largest in the complex, has burned about 9,000 acres so far. It remains 0% contained as of Friday afternoon.

A structure protection group is assessing the west perimeter of the fire to determine mitigation measures for the community of Avery.

Meanwhile, heavy rain fell on the east side of the Deceitful and Prichard fires north of the Silver Valley.

“That contributed to less fire behavior,” said Operations Branch Director Trainee Greg Campbell. “Overall, the fire kind of laid down.”

The Deceitful fire remains 0% contained as of Friday.

Weather permitting, crews may conduct burning operations over the weekend in the Cinnabar Creek, White Creek Saddle and White Peak areas.

A burnout operation removes the unburned fuel between a containment line and the fire edge. This allows better control over the intensity of a fire.

The Prichard fire remains 75% contained.

In the Priest Lake Ranger District, officials said lightning strikes sparked 15 fires this week.

Nine of those fires are contained and two are out.

Most areas will see moderate air quality over the weekend, except in communities closest to ongoing fires, including Avery, Kellogg and Thompson Falls.