Thanks to a stretch of highly welcomed cooler and moister weather in recent weeks, crews have made significant progress on wildfires in Northwest Montana, allowing authorities to lift evacuation orders and further establish containment lines from Thompson Falls to Polebridge to Troy.
Even with the moderate conditions, fire and land managers remind the public that Stage 2 fire restrictions are still in place throughout the region. Those restrictions include a prohibition on campfires. For more information, visit www.mtfireinfo.org.
Evacuation warnings issued in late July for the lightning-caused Hay Creek Fire near Polebridge were lifted on Aug. 18 amid cooler temperatures and higher humidity. The Type 3 incident management team overseeing attack operations transitioned to a local Type 4 incident command from the Flathead National Forest on Aug. 21.
The fire was 2,894 acres and at 60% containment late last week, according to an incident report update.
The lightning-caused Thorne Creek Fire near Thompson Falls, the state’s fourth largest at 39,053 acres, was at 80% containment following an infrared flight over the weekend that “resulted in a significant increase in containment,” according to an incident report.
“Saturday’s rain kept fire activity to a minimum which allowed firefighters to secure most of the fireline, bringing containment to 80 percent,” the report states.
The Thorne Creek Fire initially forced evacuation orders for more than 200 residents in late July, but the Aug. 23 update noted that the “Thompson River Zone is now in pre-evacuation status and open to residents only.” No structures have been lost.
The Southern Area Gold Team planned to transfer command of the Thorne Creek Fire back to the Lolo National Forest on Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.
Over the weekend, crews finished a direct line on the northwestern corner of the 12,522-acre South Yaak Fire, located near Troy, increasing total containment to more than 60%, according to an Aug. 23 update. The nearby Burnt Creek Fire was burning at 4,066 acres and 29% containment on Monday.
No updated incident reports for the Boulder 2700 Fire on the east shore of Flathead Lake have been posted since Aug. 16, although crews were making ample progress and evacuation orders had been lifted. The fire leveled more than 20 structures when it grew abruptly under warm winds on the night of July 31.
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Division of Fire has shifted its regular updates from the Boulder 2700 Fire to the Crooks Fire burning 10 miles east of Arlee.
According to an Aug. 22 update, the Crooks Fire was 3,258 acres at 0% containment, with 147 personnel attacking the blaze. No structures were threatened at that time, and no evacuation orders were in place.