From the Saturday, August 26, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Firefighters took advantage of cool weather and dampened fire activity to get a grip on the two largest fires in the Flathead area.
Heavy logging equipment and dozers were moved in to cut a fire line ahead of the 430-acre Sun Dog Fire, burning at the head of the Coal Creek in the North Fork Flathead basin.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Friday, August 25, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Fire activity subsided Thursday with cloud cover and lower temperatures, but those in charge of fires in the Flathead area are gearing up for more active burning in days to come.
The Sun Dog Fire on the Whitefish Divide continues to attract the most attention and resources. It is positioned to move east, just as several fires have done in the North Fork Flathead basin during the past five years.
About 20 miles northwest of Columbia Falls at the head of the Coal Creek drainage, the fire last was sized at 430 acres. It has been burning in steep, inaccessible terrain, through sub-alpine fir, spotting ahead and torching groups of trees. Burning debris has been rolling down avalanche chutes, causing the fire to spread, according to fire reports.
But on Thursday, that fire and others in Flathead area were less active than they had been in recent days.
Bucket drops Thursday morning also helped crews keep the fire under control, said Pat McKelvey, a fire information officer assigned to the blaze.
McKelvey said crews are working to create 70-foot fuel breaks along abandoned roads to the north and south boundaries of the fire.
A public meeting to discuss the fire will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at the Home Ranch Bottoms Store, McKelvey said.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Thursday, August 24, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Two fires continued to grow Wednesday on the Flathead National Forest, while a third has emerged near Hubbart Reservoir southwest of Kalispell.
By late afternoon, the Sun Dog fire was putting off a smoke column visible from the North Fork Flathead drainage. A Wednesday estimate of 90 acres was increased to 200 to 250 acres by late afternoon, when the fire was putting off a smoke column that was visible from the Flathead Valley. It was eerily similar to scenes from the 2001 Moose fire, which burned for weeks, scorching more than 70,000 acres in the North Fork.
Fire information officer Shannon Downey said there was growth on the fire late in the afternoon that is not reflected in the latest size-up.
The fire was detected Monday high on the Whitefish Divide about 20 miles northwest of Columbia Falls. It is positioned to move east toward the Coal Creek state forest. The fire has been fought mainly with helicopters. But the 20-person Helena Hot Shots started digging lines Tuesday night, and a Type II incident command team Wednesday morning assumed management of the fire from the Flathead forest.
A fire camp is being set up at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. property just north of Columbia Falls, roughly 180 people are assigned to the fire, most of them arriving Wednesday.
Read the entire article . . .
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 . . .
From the Wednesday, August 23, 2006 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
A fire about five miles northwest of Moose Lake up the North Fork of the Flathead has burned about 60 acres and was seeing plenty of air attack early this week as bombers dropped loads of retardant on it and a helicopter was making water drops as well.
The fire, called the Sun Dog fire, is one of at least three known fires in the Flathead area, all of which are small. The fires are believed to be holdovers from lightning last week.
Sun Dog has prompted the closure of several roads and trails in the North Fork, including:
* Forest Road #317, Coal Creek Road,
* Forest Road #909, Cyclone Road,
* Forest Road #5241, Moran Creek Road
* Forest Trail #40, Cyclone Lookout Trail
* Forest Trail #14, Coal Ridge Trail
* Forest Trail #2, Moran Creek Trail, and
* Forest Trail #239, Coal Creek Trail.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Monday, August 21, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Two fires on the Flathead National escaped initial attack efforts after being spotted Monday afternoon and now have potential for considerable growth.
The Holland Peak Fire is in rugged terrain near Rumble Lake on the Swan Mountain range, eight miles southeast of Condon. It was estimated at just under 10 acres by late afternoon.
The Sun Dog Fire, located near the Whitefish Divide about six miles northwest of Moose Lake in the North Fork, was estimated to have covered about 15 acres.
Both fires, which now involve “extended” rather than initial attack efforts, were among about two dozen that were picked up over the last few days in Northwest Montana. The two Flathead fires and most of the others are believed to be “holdovers” from lightning strikes last week.
While smokejumpers were dispatched to the Swan Valley fire, the fire in the North Fork attracted aircraft and about 10 firefighters. The fire is northwest of the area where the 2001 Moose Fire started before going on a 71,000-acre run.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Thursday, August 11, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Fire crews have been responding to a rash of careless fires, most significantly a campfire that led to a four-acre burn on the Spotted Bear Ranger District earlier this week.
Flathead National Forest law enforcement determined that Monday's Jungle Creek fire was caused by an abandoned campfire along the South Fork Flathead River.
An investigation is under way to determine who was responsible for the illegal campfire. Stage 1 fire restrictions that are in effect across Northwest Montana prohibit campfires except in developed campgrounds.
Anyone with information about the campfire is urged to call the Forest Service law enforcement office at 387-3800.
On Thursday, firefighters chased down more new fire starts, including at least two that were debris fires.
Creston Fire Chief Gary Mahugh said one was on Five Deer Lane near Echo Lake.
"The individual was doing light clearing around his place and was burning brush," Mahugh said. "He was advised to put it out, that burning is illegal at this time and very dangerous. This was somebody who had moved here in just the last couple of months from out of state. I suppose it's new to him, but ignorance is not an excuse."
The Ferndale Fire Department reportedly responded to another debris burn in the Ferndale area.
"In the last week, there has been several responses to illegal debris burns throughout the county," Mahugh said.
Meanwhile, initial-attack firefighters responded Thursday to at least six new lightning fires around the Flathead and at least one on the Kootenai National Forest.
There were 25 lightning starts across Northwest Montana on Wednesday, but most of those were put out.
The largest is the 15-acre Quartz-Ransom fire about 6 miles northwest of Libby.
Charlie Webster, the Kootenai Forest's fire management officer, said two 20-person crews and a helicopter continued to work on that fire Thursday.
Webster was concerned about a red-flag weather warning issued for the region that projected high winds and more lightning Thursday night.
"With our fuels being as dry as they are, there's a lot of potential for new starts," he said.
We've added a link for the GeoMAC web site to the Fire Information page.
GeoMAC (Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination Group) is a site maintained by the US National Interagency Fire Center that provides real-time forest and wildfire information for the coterminous 48 states and Alaska. Perhaps the most useful part is an interactive map. Among other useful features, you can zoom into a specific area to locate active fires, their status and their extent.
From the Thursday, August 3, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
As firefighters continued to make progress on the Red Eagle fire, an evacuation of St. Mary was lifted and the east end of Going-to-the-Sun Road was reopened Wednesday night.
The evacuation was enacted Saturday when the fire romped toward St. Mary along the southeast shore of St. Mary Lake. Since then it has burned more than 25,000 acres, approaching within less than a mile of St. Mary.
Residents, visitors and business owners were basically run out of town and have been eager to return.
“People want to get back into town, to get their businesses open again,” said fire information officer Kim Nelson.
The decision to lift the evacuation was made by the incident management team on the fire along with Glacier National Park, Cascade County and Blackfeet tribal officials.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Wednesday, August 2, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
The Red Eagle fire burning near St. Mary remained active Tuesday, and has gained ground since its size was last measured.
The Red Eagle fire was estimated at more than 25,000 acres, or 39 square miles, Tuesday evening. That’s up from 22,200 acres on Sunday. Containment increased to 20 percent.
An evacuation of St. Mary and Glacier National Park’s Cut Bank campground remained in effect Tuesday. But fire bosses made arrangements for residents and visitors to be escorted back into St. Mary to retrieve belongings Tuesday afternoon.
Firefighters continued to cut handlines and dozer breaks on the northern fire perimeter closest to St. Mary, as structure protection in and around the town remains the priority. Meanwhile helicopters and an air tanker continued to work on the fire, which has been burning to the northeast, away from St. Mary and along the southeastern shore of St. Mary Lake.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Tuesday, August 1, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
ST. MARY — As smoke billowed through the burned aspen and bug-killed pine south of this small resort town, streets and businesses appeared empty Monday afternoon.
The Red Eagle fire, first spotted Friday afternoon near Glacier National Park’s Red Eagle Lake, was burning just a mile from town on its northern perimeter.
“A lot of residents and business owners are really chomping at the bit now,” fire information officer Shannon Downey said. “We’re getting lots of calls on when are we getting this evacuation lifted.”
Sunday night, about 60 St. Mary residents — most of them seasonal workers — were fed at the fire camp at the Chewing Blackbones Campground on lower St. Mary Lake.
A shelter had been established at the elementary school in Babb, but as of Monday afternoon, the school was empty.
So was St. Mary, other than fire trucks and water tenders that were tucked away near businesses and in driveways around town.
Normally at this time of year, St. Mary is bustling with visitors to Glacier National Park’s east entrance. But the explosion of the fire on Saturday changed all that.
Glacier’s Going-to-the Sun Road was deserted as far as Rising Sun, where a gate stops eastbound traffic. Also closed is the park’s Cut Bank Campground and surrounding trails.
The Red Eagle fire was still active with high growth potential Monday, but it appeared to have eaten its way through most of the heavy timber in its direct path over the weekend.
Read the entire article . . .