August 23, 2006

Two forest fires continue to grow

From the Wednesday, August 23, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

The Flathead National Forest was still trying to get firefighters to two fires that have emerged high on the Swan Mountain Range and the Whitefish Range on Tuesday, a day after they were discovered.

The Sun Dog Fire, last estimated at between 30 and 60 acres, is burning in the Moose Lake area just north of the 2001 Moose Fire burn perimeter. With a red flag warning for higher winds Tuesday evening, the fire was poised to burn to the east, the same as the Moose Fire did.

The difficulty is getting firefighters to positions from where they can safely approach the fire, which is burning in steep, rugged terrain, said Denise Germann, the Flathead Forest’s public affairs officer.

“It hasn’t grown aggressively today, although the winds are picking up this afternoon and through the evening,” Germann said Tuesday afternoon. “Our first priority is firefighter safety, which is a challenge” because of the nature of the terrain.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at August 23, 2006 04:07 PM