HOPE — Community members will have the chance to get their questions about the Lightning Creek Fire answered at a community meeting hosted by the U.S. Forest Service this Friday at 7 p.m. at Clark Fork High School.

According to a USFS press release, local fire management and incident management teams will be on hand to provide information on the fire and address specific concerns from the community. The Lightning Creek Fire lies about nine miles north of Clark Fork.  

“Folks should expect topics like wildfire preparedness and some background on how the fire started and grew,” Maddox wrote in a statement to the Daily Bee. “The incoming Northern Rockies Incident Managment will be there to answer questions about the plan moving forward.” 

The Lightning Creek Fire rapidly spread over the weekend and has grown to an estimated size of around 2,427 acres, only a 10 acre increase from Tuesday night’s estimate, according to Kary Maddox, USFS’s fire information officer. Maddox said on Tuesday that the rapid growth of the fire was due to burn snags left over from the 2018 Cougar Fire in the same area.  

The fire is 0% contained and the number of personnel fighting the fire has increased from yesterday’s 79 to 97. The crews are in the “mop up” process along Lightning Creek Road, which involves extinguishing burning materials with water and hand tools. Mop up helps them work on containing the fire from the edge and pushing inward.   

“Containment efforts went as expected today. Crews and engines continue to hold the Lightning Creek Road,” Maddox wrote. “Fire activity was minimal today due to cooler temperatures and higher relative humidity.” 

USFS crews were able to contain the nearby Steep Creek Fire, which was across a valley and west of the LCF, at 0.3 acres. Maddox said on Tuesday that the reason containment took longer on this fire was due to the remote location which required crews to descend with repellers into the area.