Crews gain 70 percent containment on Copper King Fire

After the long rain over the weekend, the Copper King Fire still grew to over 28,000 acres with a 70 percent containment.

According to Public Information Officer Tom Rhode, the fire was 28,534 acres as of Monday morning. While the fire was been managed by Greg Poncin’s Type I Northern Rockies Incident Management team, a transition in management to a Northern Rockies Type II Team with Incident Commander Roger Staats was scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m.

Rhode said that their resources include five type I crews, nine type II crews, three camp crews, four dozers, 24 engines, 19 water tenders, five helicopters, two air attack equipment and 616 personnel as of yesterday.

Also as of Saturday, the Copper Fire area closure was reduced, and the new area closure is in effect for lands, trails and roads administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Montana Department of Natural Recourses, Sanders County and Weyerhaeuser.