The Latest
—Evacuation warning issued north of Polebridge
—Community meeting about Howe Ridge Fire scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday
—Xanterra closes Lake McDonald Lodge for the season
Updated: Aug. 17, 1:30 p.m.
An evacuation warning has been issued for a small number of residents north of Polebridge.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office issued the evacuation warning for the area between Moose Creek Road and Whale Creek Road. Residents there have been told to be ready to leave if the Whale Butte Fire, which has burned about 100 acres north of Polebridge, continues to grow.
Flathead National Forest spokesperson Janette Turk said that firefighters have been clearing vegetation in the area of the fire to reduce the amount of fuel it has to burn. Air resources have been dropping water on the blaze the last two days and heavy equipment is being used to build firebreaks.
Meanwhile, a Type 1 incident management team has taken command of firefighting efforts against the 3,500-acre fire that has been harassing the west side of Glacier National Park for nearly a week.
The Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Team 2 under the command of John Pierson took over management efforts of the Howe Ridge Fire, the Coal Ridge Fire, the Paola Ridge Fire and the Whale Butte Fire, at 6 a.m. Friday. On Friday, the team was setting up a fire camp at the West Glacier KOA.
Firefighters were able to limit the Howe Ridge Fire’s growth on Thursday using two CL-215 “Super Scooper” planes to drop water on the south and northeast flanks of the fire. As of Friday morning, the fire was listed at 3,500 acres and 0 percent contained. More than 250 firefighters are assigned to the fire.
A public meeting about all four fires under the Type 1 team’s management will be held at Columbia Falls High School on Saturday, Aug. 18 at 6 p.m.
The Howe Ridge Fire exploded from a small burn on the west side of Lake McDonald into a 2,500-acre inferno on Aug. 12, forcing a large scale evacuation of the upper Lake McDonald area, including the Lake McDonald Lodge. Xanterra Parks & Resorts announced Friday that they would not be reopening the lodge this year because of the proximity of the fire and poor air quality. The lodge normally closes at the end of September.
Marc Ducharme, general manager for Xanterra’s Glacier Park properties, said they were surprised at how quickly the fire grew on Sunday evening.
“It was unexpected,” Ducharme said. “Unfortunately, we’ve gotten really good at evacuating.”
The Lake McDonald Lodge was evacuated in 2017 because of the Sprague Fire.
An evacuation warning was also issued for a number of residents west of Essex due to the Paola Ridge Fire, which had burned 400 acres as of Thursday.
A red flag warning has been issued for much of southwest Montana through tonight due to wind and a chance of thunderstorms. An air quality alert has been issued until further notice for nearly all of Northwest Montana due to smoke from fires in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. Air quality in Kalispell and Thompson Falls was listed as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” as of 10:45 a.m. and “unhealthy” in Libby. The only place in the entire state with “good” air was Sidney.
Further west on the Kootenai National Forest, at least four large fires were continuing to burn. The Davis Fire near Yaak had torched 5,724 acres and was 5 percent contained on Friday morning. The Gold Hill Fire north of Libby had burned 122 acres as of Thursday evening. The Sterling Complex Fire near Lake Koocanusa had grown to 1,095 acres by Friday morning and was 23 percent contained. Just south of that fire, the Ten Mile Fire was listed at 681 acres and was 91 percent contained as of Friday morning.
This story will be updated when additional information becomes available.