The Kootenai National Forest is scrambling to deal with a number of new wildfires . . .
The Kootenai National Forest added 14 new fires Saturday to its growing list that totals 49 wildfires that have started since Aug. 1.
Lightning raked the forest Friday night, igniting new fire starts.
The largest fire — the Marston Fire near Trego — had grown to 1,500 to 1,800 acres as of Saturday afternoon, according to Kootenai National Forest Public Information Officer Willie Sykes.
The folks in the Spotted Bear District have their hands full this fire season . . .
The Spotted Bear Ranger District remains the hot spot for fires on the Flathead National Forest, with eight new fires started by Friday’s lightning storms.
Spotted Bear has 19 fires while the rest of Flathead National Forest has four…
The largest fire is the Trail Creek Fire. By Saturday, it had burned 2,500 acres north of the Spotted Bear River…
Here are the highlights of this morning’s update on Glacier Park’s Thompson Fire. Short version: The fire is a little bigger (13,680 acres) and there are now people on the ground in the backcountry . . .
Approximate Size: 13,680 acres
Containment: 0% Latitude 48.551, Longitude -113.613
Resources – Total Personnel: 111 Injuries: None
Hand Crews: 1 Wildland Fire Management Module Air Support: Helicopters (1 Type-1 & 1 Type-3) 1 Helitack Crew
Fire Update: The Thompson Fire was reported at approximately 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. It is located in a remote south-central backcountry area of Glacier National Park about 15 miles east of the West Glacier entrance and 12 miles southwest of the Saint Mary entrance. The fire is burning in the Thompson Creek and Nyack Creek drainages west of Medicine Grizzly Peak where the Flathead and Glacier Counties border follows the Continental Divide. No structures have been lost or damaged to date and no injuries have been reported.
A crew was flown into the Nyack drainage area Saturday evening and established a spike camp to operate from. They will provide additional structure protection measures for the Upper Nyack Backcountry Patrol Cabin, including helicopter water drops if needed. They are constructing a wet line along avalanche chutes to contain fire from further spread. This includes the use of helicopter water drops and pumps and hose lays on the ground. A helitack crew is positioned at the helibase along US Highway 2 to provide support to Glacier NP fire managers in the event of any new fire starts. Fire personnel in the Two Medicine and Cut Bank drainages are assessing structures for possible protection if the fire crosses the Continental Divide. They are also monitoring for any fire slopover across the Divide.
Although buffeted by winds on Friday, the fire remains west of the Divide and has not made any advance to the east. Without spread east of the Divide, the fire poses no threat to communities around East Glacier and St. Mary. Limited growth of the fire was seen on the west side in Nyack Creek.
Sunday’s weather will remain cool with temperatures on the fire in the lower to mid-50s. Humidity will remain higher around 50%. Wind will be lighter at 12-16 mph from the southwest on ridges. Decreasing winds are predicted for the area by morning with a slight chance for showers. Temperatures will slowly increase and humidity decrease over the next several days, with a return to seasonal conditions. There is a slight chance for isolated thunderstorms and rain later in the day on Sunday.
Here’s the noon update on the Marston Fire. Short version: The blaze is up to about 1500 acres. Shawn Pearson’s Type II team will be taking over tomorrow (Sunday) morning, which means they are taking this fire pretty seriously.
FIRE UPDATE
Marston Fire
Fortine Ranger District, Kootenai National Forest
August 15, 2015, 12:00 p.m.
Fire Information Line: (406) 882-8308 starting August 15
Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
What: Wildland Fire
Detected: August 11, 2015
Cause: Lightning
Current Size: Estimated 1,500 Acres
Containment: 0%
Resources on Fire: 3 feller bunchers, 2 skidders, 1 dozer, 2 dozer bosses, 1 dozer boss trainee, 15 district fire personnel
Location: Approx. 15 miles SE of Eureka, MT on the Fortine District of the Kootenai National Forest.
Status: Due to steep terrain, extremely dry fuels, high temperatures and low humidities, the fire grew significantly yesterday. Firefighters worked on establishing a contingency line in the Laughing Water/Summit Creek area with feller bunchers and dozers. Local district personnel responded to several lightning strikes/new fire starts with initial attack. A trace of rain fell on the fire overnight.
Today the weather is expected to be overcast with cooler temperatures (60-70° degrees) and a higher relative humidity. These conditions should moderate fire behavior. Firefighters are working on building a fuel break on the East side Deep Creek.
Shawn Pearson’s Northern Rockies Type 2 Incident Management Team is onsite at the Fortine Ranger District and will be transitioning with the district personnel. The team is expected to take command of the fire on Sunday, August 16.
Special Messages/Closures: The top priority is firefighter and public safety. Closures in the Marston face area, Stillwater area, and Laughing Water area remain in effect. An expanded area closure went into effect early this morning and is posted on inciweb. There are no evacuations in effect at this time.
There will be a community meeting at the Trego Community Hall at 7:00 pm on Sunday evening, August 16.
For further information, visit http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ ; Select “Marston Fire”
The North Fork Preservation Association has a board meeting this Sunday, August 16 at 4:00 pm followed by a potluck supper. We will be meeting at the Edwards/Naficy residence, 10641 North Fork Road. Please bring a lawn chair because we will probably be meeting on the deck.
Board meetings are open to all NFPA members.
Contact Debo Powers (debopowers@gmail.com) with any questions.
Lightening triggered more fires throughout this corner of the state as yesterday’s storms swept through . .
As thunderstorms swept through Northwest Montana on Friday, wind, lightning and parched conditions created dozens of new fires while fanning the flames of existing ones.
Five separate wildfires are now burning at more than 1,000 acres apiece throughout the region, including the new Trail Creek and Marston fires, burning at 1,300 and 1,200 acres, respectively.
On the Kootenai and Flathead national forests, there were 55 active fires burning Friday night.
The Marston Fire ballooned up to 1200 acres. A Type II team is due on site tomorrow (Sunday) morning . . .
As many as 26 new fires had been reported in the Kootenai National Forest area by Friday evening, with a previously reported pair of fires on Mount Marston erupting to cover 1,200 acres.
The two fires were being managed as a single incident dubbed the Marston Fire and are burning about two miles northeast of Dickey Lake and four miles northeast of Trego.
The fires are threatening the Mount Marston Lookout.
Also read: InciWeb page for the Marston Fire
Here are the essentials from this morning’s Thompson Fire update from the InciWeb site.
Short version: Cooler weather and last night’s rain should cause the fire to lay down a bit. They still intend to fly in a couple of ground crews . . .
If weather and smoke conditions permit today, two crews will fly into the backcountry area near the fire to work on control measures. One crew will land near Cutbank Pass to suppress hot spots along the fire’s edge and direct helicopter water drops. The other crew will work in the Nyack Drainage area to provide additional structure protection measures for the Upper Nyack Backcountry Patrol Cabin; cool down hot spots along the fire perimeter; direct helicopter water drops; and use pumps and hoses on any hot spots along the perimeter.
Gusty winds are predicted for the area through the morning with a chance for showers. Cooler weather and higher humidity are expected today, with a return to seasonal conditions Sunday. With cooler weather and recent rains, the fire is expected to smolder within its perimeter today. West Glacier received about 0.06 inches of rain in the past 24 hours: St. Mary received 0.19 inches…
From this evening’s incident update on the Thompson Fire we learn that the fire’s size estimate has been trimmed slightly to 13,202 acres and that they hope to start flying fire crews into the backcountry to fight the blaze on the ground . . .
A small fire was detected today on the west side of Waterton Lake on the U.S. side in Glacier National Park. Fire personnel are responding.
The Thompson Fire was reported at approximately 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. It is located in a remote south-central backcountry area of Glacier National Park about 15 miles east of the West Glacier entrance and 12 miles southwest of the Saint Mary entrance. The fire is burning in the Thompson Creek and Nyack Creek drainages west of Medicine Grizzly Peak where the Flathead and Glacier Counties border follows the Continental Divide.
If weather and smoke conditions permit, two crews will fly into the backcountry area near the fire to work on control measures. One crew will land near Cutbank Pass to suppress hot spots along the fire’s edge and direct helicopter water drops. The other crew will work in the Nyack Drainage area to provide additional structure protection measures for the Upper Nyack Backcountry Patrol Cabin; cool down hot spots along the fire perimeter; direct helicopter water drops; and use pumps and hoses on any hot spots along the perimeter.
No structures have been lost or damaged…
Here’s a good summary of the fire situation in this corner of Montana right now . . .
Eight major fires are burning across the region Friday and officials say the situation could worsen this afternoon as a weather system brings gusty winds and thunderstorms amid historically dry conditions.
The National Weather Service in Missoula issued a red flag warning starting at noon for the entire northern half of Montana.
“If something new starts in the right spot it could be catastrophic,” said Lincoln Chute, Flathead County fire service area manager.
Also read: Flathead National Forest Fire Update