UPDATED: Residents evacuated along Kilbrennan Lake Road

Sunday, 10:07 a.m.

As the South Yaak Fire moves east, firefighters are using roads and constructed fire lines to protect at-risk homes.

The blaze has grown to 1,164 acres with zero percent containment, according to fire management officials. Three dozers, 10 engines seven crews and 223 personnel were at work on the fire as of Sunday morning.

The fire continued to expand in part due to an overnight thermal belt that kept higher elevations warmer and drier than the valleys. The blaze mainly burned through dead and down vegetation on Saturday. Firefighters conducted small burns that evening to help limit the amount of flammable vegetation between the road and the southern end of the fire.

Officials said firefighters would continue working along East Side and Kilbrennan Lake roads to set up containment lines. Fire managers are seeking a place for an east-west line on the north side of the fire.

The Burnt Peak Fire grew to 2,416 acres as it crept downhill, expanded across the west slope and made short runs uphill. Officials said the Keeler Rattle Road continues to contain the south side of the fire and put the blaze at 19 percent contained. Two helicopters, five engines, two crews, three dozers and 219 personnel were on the fire.

Officials expected strong winds and high temperatures to increase fire activity on Sunday. Firefighters are planning to build new containment lines on the east and south sides of the Burnt Peak Fire and will scout containment and suppression opportunities to the west. Fire managers have prepared to defend structures near the blaze.

Authorities have not ordered evacuations for residences near the Burnt Peak Fire but have put some residents on pre-evacuation notice.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies began evacuations along Kilbrennan Lake Road on Friday.

Saturday, 8:40 p.m.

Crews spent the day constructing contingency firelines near the Burnt Peak and South Yaak fires, according to officials with the Kootenai National Forest.

The Burnt Peak Fire, which began July 7 with a lightning strike, held steady at 2,242 acres with 19 percent containment. The South Yaak Fire remained at 722 acres, zero percent contained.

Saturday, 8:15 a.m.

Strong wind gusts allowed both the South Yaak and Burnt Peak fires to grow yesterday.

The South Yaak Fire had expanded to 722 acres with zero percent containment, fire management officials said in a statement Saturday morning. Eight engines, seven crews, one dozer and 186 personnel were working the blaze. Helicopters, air tankers and water scooping planes are helping slow fire spread while firefighters construct fire lines.

The Burnt Peak Fire spread mainly west and up the Keeler Creek drainage reaching 2,242 acres at 19 percent containment. Officials assigned two helicopters, 10 engines, two crews, three dozers and 238 personnel to the blaze.

While officials expected high temperatures and low humidity on Saturday, winds are likely to be weaker.

Officials said firefighters on the South Yaak Fire would use thoroughfares including the East Side and Kilbrennan Lake roads as containment lines. Firefighters to the north would consider terrain features and old road systems to serve as containment or contingency lines.

Burning vegetation, which can roll down the steep terrain and start fires that burn back to the main fire, continue to challenge firefighters.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office started evacuations for residents on Kilbrennan Lake Road on Friday. Authorities have closed East Side Road and Kilbrennan Lake Cutoff to the junction with Seventeen Mile Road. Local residents may still access East Side Road where there are no evacuations.

Officials said containment lines on the southeast corner of the Burnt Peak Fire are holding. Firefighters are working to connect existing containment line on the northeastern section of the blaze’s perimeter. Fire managers suspect firefighters will have greater success working directly along the blaze’s western edge as the fire enters open areas with fewer trees and more grass and brush. Firefighters have nearly completed a contingency fire line along the ridge to Grouse Mountain.

Some residents near the Burnt Peak Fire are on pre-evacuation notice but officials have not ordered any evacuations for the blaze. North Fork Keeler Creek, Keeler/Rattle Creek and Lime Butte remain closed.

Friday, 8:46 p.m.

Officials with the Great Basin Team No. 4 confirmed that law enforcement personnel were evacuating residents along Kilbrennan Lake Road.

Jesse Benton, public information officer for the team, which is overseeing the South Yaak Fire, could not give a firm figure for the number of homes evacuated. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is evacuating residents as necessary, she said.

In an update earlier in the evening, Kootenai National Forest officials wrote that gusting winds and higher temperatures were contributing to the wildfire.

Deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff Office began issuing pre-evacuation warnings for residents on East Side and Kilbrennan Lake roads in Troy as the South Yaak Fire continued to grow on Friday afternoon.

Officials also issued a warning through the county’s Code Red emergency alert system, according to a social media statement by the Sheriff’s Office.

Seven crews and eight engines were working the South Yaak Fire Friday afternoon. Two helicopters were also splitting time between the blaze and the Burnt Peak Fire, according to a statement on social media by U.S. Forest Service officials. As of Friday morning, 186 personnel were on the fire.

The South Yaak Fire expanded suddenly on Thursday after a burning log rolled down steep slopes on the west side of the blaze. Officials said the log started multiple spot fires in the dry grass. Wind gusts helped the smaller blazes expand up to the main fire.

While the fire was burning at 161 acres and was 34 percent contained on Thursday morning, it had reached 328 acres and had a zero percent containment the following morning.

Officials said sections of containment lines were holding but that spot fires had cropped up on the east side of the ridge. These smaller blazes could threaten those lines and led fire managers to reduce the containment percentage.

The Burnt Peak Fire was burning at 2,200 acres with 15 percent containment on Friday morning. Ten engines, two crews and three dozers and 283 personnel were on the fire. Officials said the fire’s growth was minimal despite wind gusts. Firefighters were continuing to expand containment lines north towards Pony Mountain and patrol existing lines.