Fire officials are confident that containment lines will hold as the Condon Mountain Fire continues to burn in remote high elevations.
The fire, which has been burning since late July, increased almost 15 acres Sunday with the arrival of high winds and low relative humidities, according to the Swan Lake Ranger District. Wind gusts reached nearly 17 mph and drove fire activity into the remote Condon Creek drainage. The current fire size is 1,952 acres and is 50 percent contained.
“If it’s going to burn that’s the safest place for it to be active,” said Andrew Johnson with the U.S. Forest Service. “We’re still real confident in our containment lines and strategy. Particularly because of where it is and the time of year. At this point in September, our fire season is probably going to be over pretty quickly. Hopefully.”
A fire lookout spotted a new fire near Bungalow Mountain in the northern end of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The Wall Creek fire was detected in the Wall Creek Drainage. Wind prevented crews from combating the new fire, which is currently burning roughly an acre.