Officials said that firefighters took advantage of subdued fire activity Tuesday to work on direct control lines along the fire’s north side, in the Henry Creek area.
Monday’s wet, cool weather allowed crews to close in on the wildfire, which is burning in heavy timber and difficult terrain on the Flathead and Kootenai national forests.
High winds that wreaked havoc around the town of Paradise on Friday subsided overnight, slowing the advance of the wind-fueled River Road East Fire that began during the afternoon along the railroad tracks near the Clark Fork River.
With the River Road East Fire outside of Paradise growing to more than 16,000 acres over the weekend, officials implemented a temporary flight restriction in the skies above the blaze on Monday.
The River Road East Fire outside Paradise grew to roughly 13,414 acres on Saturday as smoky conditions hampered the use of aircraft to fight the blaze.