SANDPOINT — Cooler weather and cloud cover are helping firefighters continue to make significant gains on the Sunset Fire.

The 3,230-acre fire, which is now 66% contained, was reported Aug. 13 and has 596 personnel assigned to it, Northern Rockies Team 5 officials said.

"All in all, cooler weather's here, cloud cover is in the air and it's helping us out a bunch," Greg Shenk, a Northern Rockies operation section chief, said Thursday. "We're going to be going into cooler temperatures for the next couple days, and so that's moderated fire behavior substantially."

Shenk said firefighters are "kind of close" to the final phase of the fire where most firefighting efforts switch to mop-up, a labor-intensive operation involving extinguishing or removing burning fuels near control lines.

Mop-up efforts are taking place from Lake Pend Oreille to Maiden Creek as well as areas to the north.

"We're at that place where we feel very, very confident that we can start pulling hoses, pumps and portable tanks to get it back to camp, to get back to the cache," Shenk said.

On the fire's southern and western flanks, crews have begun pulling hoses and cleaning the area for future suppression repair. Crews have reported minimal hot spots during their mop-up efforts in those areas, fire officials said.

On the fire's northern edge, Shenk said hotshot and Type 2 initial attack crews remain in the area, working to secure the zone. Air resources also continue to assist firefighters on the northern flank to extinguish remaining hot spots.

Other areas, including Talache, are also seeing significant gains on the fire, Shenk said.

"All in all, here in the next couple days, we're looking really good," he said. "We're looking to transition with an incoming Type 3 team Saturday night, and we're trying to set them up for success."

Near Clark Fork, the Lightning Creek Fire, which was started by a lightning strike July 30, is 25% contained and has burned 2,525 acres.

Fire activity is minimal, with creeping and smoldering on its northern and southern flanks. Firefighting efforts are being led by Incident Commander Kelly Tucker of the Sandpoint Ranger District, which assumed control of the fire Aug. 18.

A temporary flight restriction is in place over the Sunset Fire, prohibiting all drones and aircraft from operating in the area without permission. Unauthorized aircraft pose a serious hazard to aviation personnel, forcing the grounding of firefighting aircraft and potentially delaying suppression efforts.

Information: Lightning Creek Fire, bit.ly/4l5NhIB; Sunset Fire, bit.ly/3HR16gm; Bonner County Sheriff's Office, bonnerso.org