ARLEE - Little change is being reported from The Big Knife Fire five miles east of Arlee.
The blaze remains at 4,864 acres and is 5% contained as of Tuesday morning.
A community meeting to discuss the Big Knife, Niarada, and Mill Pocket fires on Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Elmo Community Center. The meeting will be broadcast live on the CSKT Division of Fire Facebook page.
Another community meeting has been planned for Thursday, Aug. 10, at 6 p.m. at the Arlee Community Center. The meeting will broadcast live on the CSKT Divison of Fire Facebook page.
Fire managers report that although fire behavior remains reduced, fuels are beginning to dry out again.
Heavy equipment operators completed a mastication line along the fire's southwestern edge to reduce fuels and have been using existing road prisms to help extend and improve constructed firelines.
Crews are assessing and implementing point protection measures, as well as mulching vegetation along Jocko Canyon and Canal roads, in case firing operations are necessary to hold the fire south of Jocko River, according to the Tuesday update.
Firefighters are continuing to work on holding, improving, and mopping up the edge of a strategic firing operation they conducted Friday and Saturday to keep the fire north of Agency Creek.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office has placed several areas near the base of the mountains west of the Big Knife Fire in pre-evacuation status.
Belmore Slough and Burnt Cabin Roads remain closed in the Tribal Primitive Area.
There are 316 people assigned to the lightning-sparked blaze.
Stage 2 Fire Restrictions remain in place across the Flathead Indian Reservation.
