CSKT Firefighters Snuff Out Grass Fire Near Elmo
Estimated at 160 acres, the fire is believed to have started when a tire detached from a boat trailer and ignited the grass along Highway 28
By Beacon Staff
Wildland firefighters from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ (CSKT) Division of Fire quickly contained a 160-acre grass fire that ignited Monday night 11 miles west of Elmo. According to details released by CSKT, the human-caused Big Draw Fire was reported July 22 when a tire detached from a moving boat trailer and sparked the grass along Montana Highway 28.
By Tuesday afternoon, officials had pegged the fire’s containment at 95%, according to CT Camel of the CSKT Division of Fire.
“It’s pretty much out,” Camel said Tuesday. “The majority of it was burning in grass that burned last year.”
Last summer, a wildfire complex on the Flathead Indian Reservation kept CSKT crews busy for much of the summer, with much of their focus on the lightning-caused Niarada Fire west of Elmo, which burned more than 20,000 acres. Camel said the Big Draw Fire that ignited Monday night burned in the same area. While the Niarada Fire ran east and west of Brown’s Meadow Road and burned in heavy timber, Camel said crews made quick work of the Big Draw Fire.
A local Type 3 incident command team was assigned to the Big Draw Fire, with Art Trahan managing it as incident commander. On Monday night, fire officials estimated the fire’s size at 200 acres and reported 0% containment; by Tuesday morning, after mapping the fire’s perimeter overnight, they’d downgraded its size to 160 acres and were reporting 95% containment.
Resources attacking the fire included three single-engine air tankers, two dozers, and personnel from Polson, Chief Cliff and Hot Springs rural fire departments.
There have been no road closures in effect, no evacuations and no threatened structures.
For updates on the Big Draw Fire, follow the CSKT Division of Fire’s Facebook page here.