Crews battling the Rail fire southwest of Unity took advantage of calm winds and cooler temperatures Wednesday to prevent the 5,600-acre blaze from spreading much, if at all.

“It was certainly a different scenario from yesterday,” said Chuck Turley, a spokesman at the fire camp at Burnt River School in Unity.

On Tuesday afternoon, powerful winds caused the blaze to more than double in size.

On Wednesday, by contrast, most of the burning was inside the perimeter of the fire, Turley said.

Crews will continue to concentrate on securing lines on the east side of the fire, where flames spread Tuesday onto a small piece of private property. Otherwise the fire has burned solely on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

Turley said firefighters are also bracing for potential thunderstorms on Friday night and into Saturday.