Crews make gains on Sunset Fire

SANDPOINT — Firefighters made gains on the Sunset Fire Tuesday, bringing containment to 4%, the first such gain in the week-old fire.

While warmer weather is expected by the weekend, Northern Rockies Team 5 officials said firefighters kept the fire to 3,208 acres and brought containment to 4%. There are 546 firefighters assigned to the fire and more are on the way to help with the week-old fire in southern Bonner County, Northern Rockies Team 5 officials said.

Since being reported about 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13, the fire has quickly grown. Within several hours it grew from a half-acre to more than 50 and then almost 700 acres. By the next day, the fire had more than doubled and on Friday, had grown by more than 1,000 acres, reaching just over 2,700 acres over the course of the day.

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