SUPERIOR — The West Mullan Fire continues to grow and the Northern Rockies Incident Command Team says upcoming hot weather will not help firefighting efforts.

By Friday, the estimated acreage for the fire rose to 4,550 acres with 23 percent containment. The fire crept down close to the town of Superior and has now been pushed back farther away from town.

Although 150 businesses and residences had been under mandatory evacuation orders, some evacuation orders were changed late Friday afternoon.

West Mullan Road has reopened to the public east of Sunflower Lane. West of Sunflower Lane it is open to residents only.

Flat Creek Road within the city limits is open and East Mullan Road is open to everyone.

Flat Creek Road outside the city limit remains closed and under mandatory evacuation. Pardee Creek, Keystone Creek and LaVista Roads remain closed and under mandatory evacuation. Big Eddy Fishing Access is closed.

The Clark Fork River has been closed to public access from Big Eddy fishing access to Sloway Campgound for all uses.  

During a public information meeting Thursday, Operations Section Chief Joe Braybender said firefighters were finishing up behind houses, but the fight is far from over.

“We have three or four days of tough weather ahead of us. Sunday’s supposed to be the hottest and driest of this season so far and it’s going to cause some real challenges for us,“ Braybender said.

Braybender said the challenges should be up over the hill farther away from town but nonetheless, a lot of work remains ahead of the crews.

“We’re not seeing relief, not even into next week,” Fire Behavior Analyst Brad Gilleppie said when discussing the dry, hot conditions to come.

One of Gilleppie’s main concerns was thermal belts that will be created due to the intense heat. Gilleppie said temperatures in the thermal belts are expected to be in the 70s with humidity in the teens, causing major fire activity during the night and into the next day.

Because of the thermal belts, fire is expected to back downhill.

Braybender said crews will staff the area and a good contingency of resources will patrol to ensure the fire’s containment on the hill above Superior.

The fire is currently moving off to the southeast and the concern now lies in the Flat Creek and Wood Gulch area.

Wood Gulch had major fire activity Thursday and firefighters had to pull out of the area. They were able to re-engage once conditions were deemed safe.

Another crew of firefighters had to pull out after the fire on Pardee Creek rolled under the power lines. Once the fire got beyond the power lines, the crews went back to work.

The projections show the fire also moving into Johnson Creek and Sloway Gulch.

Incident Commander in Training Mike Goicoechea said chances of the fire moving into town from a fire behavior standpoint is “pretty low.”

“With the work they’ve done today and the previous days, they have taken out most of the fuel components in there,” Goicoechea said Thursday.

With the fire moving away from town, the next plan of action is to focus on the backcountry, where the fire is expected to grow.

“There is a lot of tough work and a lot of tough ground in the backcountry,” Goicoechea said.

Structures are scattered throughout the backcountry and Goicoechea said those places are a high priority.

Goicoechea referred to the Chippy Creek Fire in 2007 — a fire that exploded to almost 100,000 acres.

“Sometimes these things can’t be controlled when they reach a certain size and it’s Mother Nature that ends up putting it out. I think we have to be really realistic with what may possibly happen, especially with the forecast Brad’s calling for,” Goicoechea said.

A roadblock is currently in place on the bridge in Superior crossing the Clark Fork River, restricting access to the north.

The Red Cross has established an emergency center at the Superior Elementary School.

“We’ve been working since we got here on when we would safely get people out of harm’s way and when you can safely go back into your homes and businesses that we’ve displaced you from due to this event,” Goicoechea said.

The fire has been burning since Sunday.