Montana Creek Fire now partly contained

UPDATE 7/6 5:27 p.m.: Containment on the Montana Creek Fire has gone up to 30%, and a control line has been constructed around the entire fire. You can read the complete update from the Alaska Wildland Fire Information on their blog, where they have also posted an updated map of the fire (365 acres) and the “Level 1: Ready” evacuation area.

11:56 a.m.: This is the latest update on the Montana Creek Fire from the Alaska Division of Forestry:

“Firefighters on Friday continued working to get a dozer line and hose lay around the perimeter of the Montana Creek Fire.

The fire did not grow significantly on Friday and is estimated at 344 acres with 10 percent containment. The fire started on Wednesday and is burning near Montana Creek, approximately 13 miles south of Talkeetna and 3 miles east of the Parks Highway around Mile 98.

A dozer line and hose lay was completed on the north side of the fire and the Baker River Interagency Hotshot Crew began mopping up that section of line. The White Mountain Type 2 Initial Attack Crew from Fairbanks arrived at the fire on Friday and began laying hose on the south end of the fire. The dozer line and hose lay should be completed on the southern perimeter by the end of shift today. Mop-up operations on the southern perimeter will proceed once the dozer line and hose lay are complete

There are 112 people working on the fire and another crew has been ordered.

Despite the hot, dry conditions, minimal fire behavior was observed on Friday. The fire was mostly creeping and smoldering on the surface with occasional single-tree and group tree torching.

Given the hot, dry conditions, fire managers’ primary concern is a north wind pushing the fire south across the containment line into thick and continuous black spruce.

Twenty-nine residences closest to the fire remain in a “Level 1: Ready” evacuation status. This is not an evacuation order but a notice that there is a threat in the area and people should be aware that an evacuation may become necessary at some point in the future.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.”