MISSOULA -- The Deep Draw fire that burned between Elmo and Hot Springs is just about wrapped up.
"It's been awfully quiet and we're beginning to demobilize," said fire information officer Pat Cross. "We should be out of here by Tuesday."
The fire was 90 percent contained as of Saturday night, and Cross said there was little action.
"We had a few interior smokes, but nothing we're concerned about," he said. "We didn't even have the helicopters up today."
The fire burned a bit over 1,700 acres near Highway 28 between Hot Springs and Elmo.
Meanwhile, the fires that were likely sparked by a vehicle along Highway 12 west of Lolo Friday are fully contained.
The 12 small fires temporarily closed the highway on Friday, but the road has reopened and some quick work by firefighters quelled the small blazes, which ranged from two feet to two acres.
Fire officials said the fires appear to have been started by a mechanical failure of a vehicle, possibly a bad brake or something being thrown from the exhaust.
About 15 fires continue to burn in the Bitterroot National Forest, many on wilderness land. The largest fire is called Wood Hump and has burned more than 3,000 acres in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.
Unlike the Lolo Creek fires, the Bitterroot fires were all started by lightning.
Posted in State-and-regional on Sunday, August 17, 2008 12:00 am
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