Incident Management Team Takes Over Fire North of Thompson Falls

A Type Two Incident Management Team took over the Lazier Creek 3 fire this morning, July 11, which is burning in a rural area between Thompson Falls and Libby.

"The fire did take on some pretty significant growth on Sunday and the Sander's County Sheriff had to call for some evacuations of campers and cabins at the Bend Ranger Station Area," said Fire Information Officer Erin Fryer.

Fryer says that about 15 cabins had to be evacuated and that the fire was able to spread rapidly because wind-driven embers were causing more fires to spark. Fire crews were able to gain a strong foothold against the blaze on Monday.

"They were able to start working on constructing line to anchor in the fire," Fryer said. "So crews were out today to continue on some of that work, they are holding and improving the fire line as well as using heavy equipment to construct line on the north side of the fire."

There are actually four fires in the area, but the Lazier Creek 3 fire is the largest at an estimated 1,040 acres. Fryer says containment is currently at around 25 percent.