By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff
The Cougar Fire, located five miles east of Hope and just north of Porcupine Lake, is an estimated 700 acres as of Monday and continuing to burn in rugged terrain.
The Cougar Fire burns 5 miles East of Hope. Photo courtesy of InciWeb.
Forest Service officials report that the lightning-caused fire started early in the morning on July 28. Smokejumpers were dispatched but disengaged due to unsafe conditions. As of 6 a.m. on August 5, the Northern Rockies Fire Management Team assumed command of firefighting operations on the Cougar Fire.
USFS reports that current suppression tactics include fuel breaks along the area’s trails and roads, such as the Porcupine ATV trail (trail 642), as well as along Wellington Creek. Dozers and masticators are being used to eliminate brush along these fuel breaks. InciWeb reports 59 fire personnel are currently on the Cougar Fire.
The Porcupine ATV trail is closed as of Monday due to fire suppression efforts. Those accessing the Lightning Creek area in the coming days are advised to travel slowly, keeping increased fire-related traffic in mind.
With hotter temperatures predicted for the next few days, fire activity can be expected to increase.
Updated information on the Cougar Fire is regularly posted on InciWeb at inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6081/. Also find the Idaho Panhandle National Forest on Facebook to stay up-to-date on the Cougar Fire and other regional fires.
Cougar Fire map as of 10:30 a.m. Monday:
(Click to enlarge)
While we have you ...
... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.
You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.
Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal
Coming up this week! Don’t miss out on a Student Safety Summit, Sherlock, Earth Day Cleanups…. and more! See the full list of events in the 
