HOPE — Monday’s wind event improved ambient air quality, but it kept firefighters working the Cougar and Surprise Creek fires on their toes.

The Cougar Fire burning five miles east of Hope was fairly active on Monday, according to the U.S. Forest Service as a result of the wind, which lifted smoke from other forest fires that has settled in Bonner County and was expected to expose a column of smoke from the Cougar Fire.

The Cougar Fire’s size was at 5,524 acres on Tuesday and approximately 26 percent of the blaze’s perimeter had been contained, according to a post to InciWeb.

Safety concerns with snags, egress and ingress, and access persist, the Forest Service said in a fire update.

Planned actions include continued holding actions as fire approaches an established fuel break along the Porcupine Trail and Wellington Creek. Air resources will be utilized as necessary to slow the fires creep toward a repeater and Snotel site on Lightning Mountain, and the containment lines in Wellington Creek, fire managers said.

Crews will also maintain structure protection measures with the repeater site, Snotel site and Keeler warming hut. Additionally, the firefighters will maintain area, road, and trail closures.

The Surprise Creek fire, located south of Faset Peak in the Independence Creek drainage, also saw activity as a result of the heat and wind on Monday.

Nineteen percent of the 2,300-acre fire’s perimeter was contained as of Tuesday, according to InciWeb.

Planned actions include improving road conditions for firefighter access and continuing a fuel break to Forest Service Road Nos. 332 and 205.

Air resources will be used as necessary to slow the fire’s advancement toward containment lines.

A containment line will be prepared for future fire operations and other roads will be assessed for containment line opportunities.

The Priest Lake Ranger District has been managing three small wildfires: Divide, Hungry and Mush.

All three have been contained and have been relegated to patrol status, freeing up resources for the Surprise Creek Fire and the Wisdom Fire, a newly-discovered blaze on the St. Joe Ranger District.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.