Dozens More Firefighters Arrive as Skillet Fire West of Olney Grows to 2,494 Acres
An overnight operations crew joined the efforts yesterday to corral the uncontained fire in northwest Montana
By Zoë Buhrmaster
Northwest Montana’s uncontained Skillet Fire is currently at an estimated 2,494 acres, having increased by over a thousand acres since teams were last able to conduct an infrared flight Saturday.
Since a national team took command of the fire Sunday morning, 65 additional fire personnel have joined the efforts as of Monday, boosting the number of Skillet Fire fighters to nearly 250 personnel. While the flames are still uncontained, crews scouted out the road systems around the fire’s perimeter yesterday, clearing roads with dozers and feller bunchers to be able to construct containment lines near the fire and guide it north toward a historic burn scar, where fuels are less dense.
Crews also established an anchor point up in the Bowen Creek area and began creating a fire-containment barrier of bare earth called a dozer line on the west side of the fire to Robertson Creek. In an operational update Monday, Operations Section Chief Ryan Jones said finally establishing an anchor point yesterday was a “great success” and would allow crews “to continue progressing line to the north and south.”
Crews are continuing to build out a line on the south end of the fire to help direct it away from the homes and structures around Good Creek, Jones said. With the line, crews plan to tie in with the East Fork Fire burn scar from 2023.
“That’ll allow us to corral that and create a catcher’s mitt all the way up around this and work that angle,” Jones said, referring to the northeastern end of the fire.
A night operations group also joined the efforts yesterday, taking advantage of the more favorable weather conditions overnight.
Winds are anticipated to continue out of the west and northwest at 8 to 10 miles per hour, with gusts up to 15 mph. Crews plan to continue covering ground today as humidity around 20 to 25% and smoke cover help temporarily moderate fire behavior. From late morning to early evening, clear skies could lead to more active fire behavior including potential upslope runs on south-0facing or wind-aligned slopes.
Additional information about smoke and air quality can be found on the Skillet Fire InciWeb. In addition to local fires, smoke continues to drift in from fires in Oregon and Washington.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office issued an Evacuation Order in the Good Creek/Alder Creek area. Current weather conditions and fire behavior present a threat for those areas. For questions regarding the Evacuation Order, call Sheriff’s Information line at 406-758-2111.
The Flathead and Kootenai National Forests issued an area closure for public and firefighter safety due to fire activity. The area closure includes roads, trailheads, trails, day use areas, and campgrounds. The closure order can be found at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/flathead/alerts. There is also a temporary flight restriction in place to allow aviation resources to work safely in the fire area.