July Fire 45-percent contained, estimated containment date set for Friday

Crews working the 'July Fire' near Zortman and Landusky are calling yesterday's efforts to extinguish the blaze "very successful" according to the Sunday morning incident report (https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5313/).

Cloud cover helped to dampen fire behavior and allowed crews to begin constructing contingency fire line north of the fire, the report states. Contingency lines are being put in place as an extra protection measure between the fire and the town of Hays. Aerial resources dropped numerous water buckets and conducted reconnaissance flights to assist firefighters. In the Landusky and Zortman areas, firefighters focused their efforts on patrolling the fire line and checking for hot spots. Interior of the fireline, some hot spots were putting up smoke but were not a threat to the residences.

Last Thursday, the wind shifted the fire toward the town of Landusky and the Phillips County Sheriff's Office issued a mandatory evacuation. The incident report states the mandatory evacuation for the Landusky area was lifted for residents on Saturday, adding that Information Officers and Sheriff Deputies were present to facilitate the re-entry process.

The fire started on Monday, July 3, and has burned approximately 10,477 acres and the estimated containment date is Friday, July 14. The total number of personnel on the fire us 423 and the planned

The planned actions going forward are to Utilize additional heavy equipment resources and crews to strengthen and hold fire lines and continue to mop up and begin prepping for rehabilitation. The heavy equipment operators helping to build and hold fire lines included members of the Phillips County Road Department.