In case you’re wondering, that pall of smoke drifting through our area at a fairly high altitude is from fires in Central Washington State.
Here’s the overhead imagery showing the smoke plume:
Smoke overhead coming from Central Washington fires
Tag Archives: wildfires
Red flag warning for this afternoon
The National Weather Service posted a red flag warning for this afternoon, July 22, due to gusty winds and very low humidities. It runs from 3pm to 9pm . . .
URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 921 AM MDT WED JUL 22 2015 MTZ105-230300- /O.CON.KMSO.FW.W.0003.150722T2100Z-150723T0300Z/ FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK- 921 AM MDT WED JUL 22 2015 ...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES ACROSS THE FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK... A RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING. * SYNOPSIS: A SURGE OF VERY DRY AIR ALONG WITH STRONG AND GUSTY WESTERLY WINDS WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTHWEST MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THIS DRY AND BREEZY WEATHER COUPLED WITH FUELS HAVING RETURNED TO VERY HIGH TO LOCALLY EXTREME CONDITIONS... NOT TO MENTION A FEW WILDFIRES ALREADY ON THE GROUND... A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED. * WINDS: SUSTAINED 15-20 MPH WITH GUSTS 20-30 MPH (LOCALLY HIGHER) FOR SEVERAL HOURS. * MINIMUM HUMIDITIES: 10-15% VALLEYS AND 12-18% RIDGES * TIMING: 1500-2100
Firefighters chased down 22 small fires over weekend
Fire crews stayed busy chasing down several small fires over the past few days . . .
Thunderstorms and other sources of ignition over the weekend started a smattering of small fires across Northwest Montana with 22 wildfires reported, although only a few consumed more than a fraction of an acre.
Two fires started Friday in Glacier National Park.
Katie Liming, a park spokeswoman, said a fire at Doverspike Meadow up the North Fork was extinguished by four firefighters after torching about 1.25 acres.
On Monday, firefighters were still working on a 2.25-acre wildfire on Howe Ridge in an area burned by the Robert Fire in 2003.
Canadian fire season may preview Montana’s
Canada’s wildfire situation may be a preview of Montana’s . . .
As Montana holds Little League tryouts for the 2015 wildfire season, Canada is showing the planet how to really burn a summer.
Alberta authorities were battling 116 fires by the end of last week, including 46 reported as “out of control,” according to provincial officials.
At British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, a 50-acre fire near Nanaimo forced the evacuation of 12 homes Thursday. Island Timberlands, Vancouver Island’s major private timber company, closed public access to many of its roads on the east side of the island because of the fire danger.
‘Red Flag’ fire weather warning posted for 4th of July
Due to expected gusty winds and very low humidities, the National Weather Service posted a “Red Flag” fire weather warning for the 4th of July. It runs from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm. Here is the official bulletin:
URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 107 PM MDT FRI JUL 3 2015 MTZ105-107-108-040715- /O.UPG.KMSO.FW.A.0001.150704T1200Z-150705T0300Z/ /O.NEW.KMSO.FW.W.0001.150704T1200Z-150705T0300Z/ FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK-SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION-EAST LOLO- 107 PM MDT FRI JUL 3 2015 ...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TO 9 PM MDT SATURDAY FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES ACROSS THE FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK... SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION...EAST LOLO... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TO 9 PM MDT SATURDAY. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * WINDS: SUSTAINED WESTERLY WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE. * MINIMUM HUMIDITIES: SINGLE DIGITS TO LOW TEENS * TIMING: WINDS WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE ACROSS NORTHWEST MONTANA SATURDAY MORNING AROUND SUNRISE... AND THEN SPREAD THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA BY EARLY AFTERNOON. * A DRAMATIC WIND SHIFT FROM WESTERLY TO EASTERLY WILL OCCUR SOMETIME AFTER ROUGHLY 1900LT ACROSS THE GLACIER PARK AREA ON SATURDAY. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.
Spring rains helped crops, but not wildfire danger
Fire season is a big concern this year . . .
Montana weather experts say a wet spell this spring helped mitigate what could have been a destructive summer for crops, but it hasn’t eased the high threat of wildfire.
A state drought committee concluded Thursday that snowpack melted a month ahead of schedule and exacerbated the slight drought conditions persisting in western Montana.
Montana’s situation pales in comparison to the crippling drought in California, where mandatory water cutbacks have expanded from residential neighborhoods to rural irrigation districts. But with thousands of forest acres increasingly considered vulnerable to fire this summer, Montana is distressed enough to have been included in a June 12 drought conversation between President Barack Obama and the governors of six western states.
Government releases wildfire strategy aimed at protecting sage grouse
The feds have developed a wildfire strategy they hope will help protect sage grouse . . .
A federal wildfire strategy released Tuesday aims to protect the West’s sagebrush country that is home to a struggling bird species and to help prevent the sage grouse from being classified as threatened or endangered later this year.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell was in Boise to announce the plan making greater sage grouse habitat a priority for fire prevention and response, focusing mainly on the Great Basin region of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California.
The plan comes as the federal government and Western states scramble to implement plans meant to halt the decline of sage grouse populations and habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is under a court order to decide by Sept. 30 whether the sage grouse merits protections from the Endangered Species Act.
Study: Beetle infested forests no more likely to burn than healthy ones
This one is a little tricky. A study was just released saying that forests with lots of beetle killed trees are no more likely to burn than other western forests. What it does not address is fire behavior, once started, in beetle-killed stands . . .
Mountain pine beetles have left vast tracts of dead, dry trees in the West, raising fears that they’re more vulnerable to wildfire outbreaks, but a new study found no evidence that bug-infested forests are more likely to burn than healthy ones.
In a paper released Monday, University of Colorado researchers said weather and terrain are bigger factors in determining whether a forest will burn than beetle invasions.
The findings could provide some comfort to people who live near beetle-infested forests, if those trees are statistically no more likely to burn than healthy forests.
Forest Service continues to fight several wildfires on the North Fork
The newspapers aren’t giving the North Fork’s “Hay Creek Complex” wildfires much attention, but there’s lots of radio traffic.
Here’s what seems to be going on…
The first clutch of fires, including the Akinkoka, Mathias and Hay Creek #1 and #2 blazes, are under control. The Tuchuck, Moose Creek and the Johnson Creek Fires have all been “controlled and contained.” However, yesterday’s storms have triggered several new fires that are generating a lot of chatter today. None of these new fires are very big — maybe a couple of acres worst case — but they are attracting aggressive suppression efforts:
- Young Mountain #1 and #2 on the slopes above Shorty Creek, SSW of Young Mountain;
- the Stony Fire, presumably near Stony Basin Lake, north of Lake Mountain;
- the Link Lake #1 and #2 fires, probably NW of Link Mountain;
- the Antley Creek Fire is a very small blaze near a ridge top SE of Antley Creek.
The Forest Service has a helibase operating from Moran Meadow, south of Polebridge. Please don’t stop or walk out there for a closer look. Those folks are kind of busy right now.
There are officially no trail closures.
Please read the morning fire report for more information and background. I will post the evening report as soon as it becomes available.
The Inciweb page for this set of fires is also updated regularly.
Lightening triggers four wildfires in the North Fork, a couple in Glacier Park
It seems the North Fork actually picked up four lightening-triggered wildfires during last Tuesday’s storms, with three still burning. The active fires are the Akinkoka Fire in the Moose Creek drainage and the Hay Creek No. 1 and Hay Creek No. 2 blazes near the west end of the Hay Creek drainage. The Forest Service seems to have turned most of its attention to the Hay Creek fires now after expending considerable resources on the Akinkoka Fire yesterday.
Glacier Park had two, only one of which — a small fire near Bowman Road — is still active, but nearly contained.
The Hungry Horse News has additional information . . .
The Flathead National Forest reports that a Type 3 management team has taken over responsibility for several wildfires that have been burning up the North Fork since a lightning storm passed through on July 29.
The fires are being collectively called the Hay Creek Complex and for now include fires from the Canada Border to the Coal Creek State Forest, between the Whitefish Divide and the North Fork Road.
Altogether, the Forest Service is using a Type 1 helicopter, two Type 2 helicopters and a Type 3 helicopter along with single engine air tankers to douse the fires.