Progress made on containing California blaze

Firefighters made good progress on the Jerusalem fire Friday, limiting its growth to about 500 acres while boosting containment from 52 percent to 71 percent.

Firefighter Chris Schwegler is one of 2000 who stood against huge blazes in Lake and Napa Counties north of San Francisco.

Despite the recent successes containing first Rocky and now Jerusalem, Rubinstein pointed out that crews will remain vigilant and fight aggressively.

No structures have been burned but 50 are threatened in the Jerusalem Fire. Fire crews continued to defend structures, with a focus on the southern and eastern flanks of the fire.

The Missoula City-County Health Department says the air quality in the Missoula Valley is unhealthy, and in some areas is very unhealthy, because of wildfire smoke.

An earlier, larger fire in the same area was finally fully contained Friday more than two weeks after it broke out. CalFire anticipates it will be another week before the fire is completely contained.

“With the critical fire conditions we are seeing this year combined with four years of drought, we are asking the public to be extra cautious in not sparking a wildfire”, said CAL FIRE Unit Chief Scott Upton.

“So you have a fire burning in a certain area of a certain size”.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – Yellowstone National Park officials say they euthanized a grizzly bear after DNA tests confirmed it attacked and killed a hiker last week.

Burlant said Tuesday afternoon in a live webcast that weather has proven a challenge to firefighters as they attempt to create distance between the fire and its fuel sources. The fire was estimated at 70 acres Friday evening, a day after it started.

Cooperating Agencies: Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office, Hamilton Volunteer Fire Department, Ravalli County Office of Emergency Management.

Fire information officer Hailey Graf said the predicted cold front arrived with gusty and erratic winds that caused the fire to jump State Highway 162 and lead to the Stage 3 evacuation notice. “We had to cover our faces as we were driving through it”. People in that area and those along a creek to the south were ordered to evacuate.

Having already evacuated once because of the Rocky fire, he was troubled when employees spotted a new plume of smoke, this time from the Jerusalem fire creeping over nearby hills.

As of 1 p.m. Thursday, the five fire complexes within the Six Rivers National Forest had spread to total of 80,291 acres, according to a U.S. Forest Service update. High winds, low humidity and hot temperatures in recent days contributed to the fires’ rapid growth.