The Beach Fire, seven miles southwest of Bridge Bay, is 72 percent contained. It is completely surrounded, providing crews the task of extinguishing hot spots on the line to render the blaze fully contained.The National Park Service reported the fire at 150 acres July 19. As of July 26, the fire had grown to 520 acres.

Since the fire is fully circled, crews now are working to extinguish hot spots on the fire line.

“The focus is securing the lines,” said Gary Hoshide, information officer at the Incident Command Post at Fishing Bridge.

The wind is pushing the blaze north, so many of the firefighters have been dispatched to the northern perimeter, Hoshide said.

Firefighters hope to draw the line on that northern edge to prevent the flames from spreading into 300-year-old lodge pole pine that was untouched by the 1988 fires, Hoshide said.

“The problem has been logistics,” Hoshide said.

The fire is a four-mile hike in from the south, and supplies must be shuttled by helicopter, Hoshide said. Still, despite the relatively isolated location, things are going well.

“They're pretty confident they have got a good handle on the perimeter,” Hoshide said.

Fire managers are nonetheless keeping an eye on the weather, Hoshide said.

Highs Monday were expected to reach the upper 70s. That afternoon, extremely gusty winds were expected to accompany thunderstorms, a Park Service news release said.

Monday's plans included removing fire hose from the southwestern perimeter of the fire, and crews were tasked with locating and suppressing spot fires on the northern perimeter. One heavy, two medium and one light helicopter were on-hand to support suppression activities and transport supplies back to the Fishing Bridge fire camp.

There were 263 personnel working the fire Monday. Two hot shot and two initial attack crews were hiking out that day, Hoshide said.

There are no closures due to the fire nor is it affecting any operations in the park.

So far, by studying area data or eye witness accounts from fire lookout personnel, there has been no evidence unearthed pointing to lightning as the fire's initiator, Hoshide said.

“At this point,” he said, “it's still under investigation.”

It is likely the fire will continue to smolder until it snows. Firefighters will de-mobilize, but the Beach Fire will be monitored.

As of Monday, there were 201 fires reported across the country, Hoshide said. The National Interagency Fire Center reports the season is off to a mild start, he said.