By Keith CousinsMineral Independent

Although the West Mullan Fire now has covered an area of 6,169 acres, fire bosses are optimistic about keeping the fire away from structures.

“We still have a lot of work to do and we don’t want to rush ourselves,” Northern Rockies Incident Operations Specialist Joe Brabender told a town meeting in Superior Sunday night. “But we are feeling pretty good that we can get it taken care of in the next couple of days.” 

Incident Commander Tom Heintz concluded the meeting by saying his team feels “a lot better tonight then we did the night before” and agreed with Brabender’s assessment the major work on the fire would be wrapped up in the next couple of days. 

“But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” Heintz said. “There is still a lot of fire at the north end and still a lot of hazard and potential for that fire to escape. It looks like we are headed in the right direction.”

As of Monday morning, crews had contained 35 percent of the fire that began July 14 northwest of Superior.

Heintz currently leads a firefighting force of 925 people.

Hot, dry weather continues to pose a threat to push the fire farther, but many people who had been evacuated at the height of the fire last week have been allowed to return home.

West Mullan Road remains closed to the public west of Sunflower Lane. It is open to residents only. Flat Creek Road is closed outside the Superior city limits. East Mullan Road is open to everyone.  

The Clark Fork River remains closed from Big Eddy Fishing Access to Sloway Campground.  

A portable retardant plant has been set up at the fishing access site to provide rapid retardant support for helicopter operations, according to Monday morning’s update from fire officials. 

On Sunday, power lines on the northern edge of the fire created some challenges for firefighters. Bonneville Power Administration shut down power to the lines for three hours.

People are urged to watch for rolling rocks, burning stumps and other debris that may come off the mountain as fire progresses through the area.

“We don’t want to say that it is contained until we get it mopped up to a level that we feel the line is safe so we can put it at a patrol status instead of a mop-up status,” Brabender said.

Because of smoke trapped by inversions, travel on area roads including Interstate 90 continues to be hazardous, especially in the mornings between Superior and St. Regis. 

 Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is out on the fire lines of the West Mullan Fire filming a documentary on climate change.

Fire Information Officer Nancy Guerrero says a film crew is profiling the Snake River Hotshots. Members of the National Interagency Fire Center are also on hand. 

Schwarzenegger had breakfast with fire crews Monday morning before heading out to the lines. 

Schwarzenegger is the executive producer of the documentary, which is looking at climate change and how it impacts the fire season. It is scheduled to be aired on Showtime.

The Snake River Hotshots are based in Pocatello, Idaho.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.