Category Archives: Fire Information and Status

Avalanche Fire estimate bumped to 45 acres

Fire Information and Status, News,

Looks like Glacier Park is making good progress controlling the Avalanche Fire . . .

The current size estimate of the Avalanche Wildland Fire in Glacier National Park is approximately 45 acres. This size estimate is due to more accurate mapping of the fire, not fire growth, park officials said Monday afternoon.

The wildland fire is located on Mount Brown, near Avalanche Lake on the west side of Glacier National Park. The Avalanche Lake Trail is closed until further notice.

Aerial water drops have been effective in suppressing the fire, along with about 25 fire firefighters constructing fireline.

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Crews fighting wildfire in Glacier Park’s Avalanche Lake area

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Glacier Park is dealing with a wildfire in the vicinity of Avalanche Lake . . .

Firefighters spent Sunday working to suppress the 25-acre Avalanche Wildland Fire burning on Mount Brown in Glacier National Park.

Reported to authorities Saturday afternoon, the wildfire is located near Avalanche Lake and the popular Avalanche Lake Trail will remain closed from the campground to the lake until further notice.No other trails have been closed because of the fire, park officials said.

Two U.S. Forest Service helicopters and a contract helicopter are being used to drop water on the fire and for aerial observation.

Twenty six firefighters and eight smoke jumpers also are working to suppress the fire. They are from Glacier National Park, Flathead National Forest and Kootenai National Forest.

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Safety issues kept Flathead Hotshots off fatal fire

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A Flathead-based fire fighting crew pulled themselves off the Steep Corner fire in Idaho due to safety issues the day before Anne Veseth was killed while working that fire . . .

One day before a 20-year-old firefighter was killed by a falling tree on the Steep Corner fire, a U.S. Forest Service hotshot crew from Montana refused to fight the fire because of safety concerns.

In a report filed Aug. 14 on the National Interagency Fire Center’s SAFENET website, an unnamed superintendent of the Flathead Hotshots said firefighting conditions on the fire, managed by the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association, were “extremely unsafe” because of falling snags, lack of communication, lack of a command structure and mixed crews with no leadership. The report was written Aug. 11.

The next day Anne Veseth of Moscow, Idaho, a two-year wildland firefighter with the Forest Service, was killed when she was struck by a falling tree while working on the Steep Corner fire.

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Forest Service wants to snuff out all wildfires this year

Environmental Issues, Fire Information and Status, News, ,

This story centers on Gila National Forest, but discusses a general, if temporary, policy this year: Whenever practical, the U.S. Forest Service is jumping on all fires as soon as they brew up. Why? Because it’s cheaper . . .

If lightning strikes in the New Mexico wilderness and starts a fire, the blaze would normally be little more than a blip on the radar of land managers who have earned a reputation for letting flames burn to keep forested lands from growing into a tangled mess.

This season is different. Now firefighters are trekking deep into the Gila National Forest with trains of equipment-carrying horses and one overriding goal: snuffing out all fires, no matter how small or remote.

The U.S. Forest Service’s decision is temporary. But after years of upholding fire’s natural ability to clean up the landscape, the agency’s about-face has drawn criticism from watchdog groups, some scientists and others who fear the agency might be setting the stage for an even more destructive season next year.

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Wednesday’s storms trigger few new wildfires in western Montana

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Lots of lightning Wednesday night, but not much action in western Montana . . .

Wednesday night’s lightning storm didn’t do as much damage as it appeared in western Montana, but eastern Idaho wilderness areas got pounded.

“The Clearwater (Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest) picked up 41 new starts,” said Bitterroot National Forest spokesman Tod McKay. “That’s where a lot of our smoke is coming from today.”

In contrast, U.S. Forest Service land in the Bitterroot Valley only recorded six new fires out of roughly 400 lightning strikes that hit over a five-hour period. Bitterroot crews and a helicopter also assisted Hamilton firefighters with a 200-acre grass fire off Sleeping Child Road that was declared out about midnight Wednesday.

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New fire northwest of Seeley Lake; region’s fire season gets busier

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Still not a lot of heavy wildfire action in this corner of Montana, but the region overall is getting busy . . .

A lightning-caused fire in the Marshall Creek drainage northwest of Seeley Lake was the biggest new start in western Montana, even as much larger challenges confronted firefighters in Idaho and eastern Montana.

A crew of Montana State Prison inmates was dispatched to the West Marshall Creek fire on Sunday, which had burned about 30 acres by Monday morning, according to Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation spokeswoman Paula Short. The agency also sent three helicopters, one large air tanker and a single-engine air tanker to slow its spread.

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Two new fires in Flathead Forest Monday

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What appear to be a couple of relatively minor wildfires were detected in Flathead National Forest on Monday . . .

Two new fires were detected on the Flathead National Forest Monday, and both are being suppressed.

The Gorge Fire was less than an acre, burning about 10 miles northeast of Condon in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Another fire, located near Dry Lake on the Swan Lake Ranger District, hadn’t been named or sized up as of Monday afternoon.

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“Red Flag” warning up for Lolo, Flathead, Kootenai forests & Glacier Park

Fire Information and Status, News, , ,

A “Red Flag” fire weather warning has been posted for the Flathead/Glacier area as well as the general region. Basically, the weather service is calling for hot, dry conditions with a chance of dry lightening from thunderstorms passing through the area. Here’s the text:

KOOTENAI-FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK-WEST LOLO-
SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION-
425 AM MDT MON AUG 6 2012

…RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO MIDNIGHT MDT
TONIGHT FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE KOOTENAI…FLATHEAD/GLACIER
PARK…WEST LOLO…SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING FOR THUNDERSTORMS…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO
MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN
EFFECT.

* WINDS: OUTFLOW WIND GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH FROM NEARBY STORMS.

* MINIMUM HUMIDITIES: 18-28 PERCENT

* THUNDERSTORMS: HIGH-BASED THUNDERSTORMS WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY
OF BENEFICIAL RAINFALL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A RED FLAG WARNING IS INTENDED TO ALERT LAND MANAGERS TO EXPECTED
WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT ALONG WITH SUFFICIENTLY DRY FUELS…WILL
SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE FIRE DANGER.

Wildfires in the Bob Marshall Wilderness area ease off

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Wildfire activity in northwest Montana has eased up over the past couple of days . . .

While activity on several fires in and around the Bob Marshall Wilderness has slowed over the last couple of days, one fire has showed signs of life.

After being detected Tuesday, the Bar Creek Fire grew to 70 acres and as of Thursday afternoon it was estimated at about 255 acres. The fire is burning in the southern part of the wilderness about 35 miles southeast of Condon.The fire is now being managed as part of the Elbow Pass Fire Complex, which involved three fires merging on the eastern part of the wilderness earlier this week.

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