Copper King Fire Expands, New Management Team Arrives

The Copper King fire could see some expansion this week as temperatures are expected to rise and winds are expected to pick up according to Fire Information Officer John Hamilton.

"It has reactivated a little bit in some respects," Hamilton said. "It's up to 1,797 acres. Its drying out the fuels and making it more conducive to burning. The way the Thompson River Canyon is situated, it is prone to getting wind funneled through there. So there is the potential  that when we get a weather change, we could get some strong winds in there again."

The fire expanded around 200 acres over the past few days, but some of that has been intentional.

"Part of the acreage increase has been due to some burnout operations on what we call on the heel of the fire which is back by where it started," Hamilton said. "We're trying to get a solid black-line back there by the homes, so we don't have to worry about that portion of the fire anymore. There's five 20 person crews, eight engines and we have three helicopters available to us."

The fire is just 20 percent contained, and a type three management team was called to take command of Copper King on Saturday. Officials are meeting tonight, August 15th, at 6 p.m at the Thompson Falls Community Center  to answer questions and to give a briefing on the fire.