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Wildfire, fire management and air quality news for western Montana and the Northern Rockies.

Montana Wildfire Roundup For July 26, 2017

A pyrocumulus cloud spotted over the Lolo Peak fire, July 26, 2017.
Saxon Holbrook

The Mineral County Sheriff’s Office has issued an evacuation order for residents of Sunrise and Quartz Flats due to the 2,700 acre Sunrise Fire. Authorities ask that people leave the area immediately and in an orderly fashion.

Residents in Quartz Creek remain under a stage two evacuation warning. These residents should to be ready to leave at a moment's notice

Crews spent the day shoring up protection around homes in the Sunrise Creek subdivision.

“A lot of of work lately has been on doing structure protection and we go in and put in sprinklers and hose lays so there’s a system to provide water quickly should the fire come that way towards those homes," Cobb said.

The fire grew by more than 10 percent since Tuesday. It’s now estimated at 2,700 acres. More than 400 firefighters are responding to the fire caused by lightning on July 16.

Fire management officers will host a public meeting tonight at 7 pm at the Lozeau Lodge Pavilion just south of Superior. You can find more information on our website, mtpr.org.

Stage II fire restrictions will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, July 27 across southwest Montana.

The purpose of fire restrictions is to reduce the risk of human-caused fires during periods of extreme fire danger. Stage II restrictions prohibit campfires, and limit smoking and use of certain equipment outdoors. See all the Stage II restrictions here.

Firefighters in eastern Montana are increasing containment of the the Lodgepole Complex, the nation’s largest fire that has destroyed 16 homes and scorched about 421 square miles of farmland and public land.
 

Jodi Pearson is a volunteer firefighter and rancher:

“I think mostly they’re working on backburns right now and just trying to wrap it up, but from what we can see from here, it looks way better, much better.”

Authorities say the Lodgepole Complex fire is 34 percent contained. That’s up from 20 percent containment yesterday.

Most of the burning is occurring on the interior of the fires.

More than 600 people from 34 states are battling the lightning-caused grass fire.

The Garfield County Sheriff's Office has lifted an evacuation order for 50 homes.

The two big fires burning north of Lincoln have now burned roughly ten square miles combined.

Joe Sampson is a member of the team fighting the Park Creek and Arrastra Creek fires. He says they are now only about a mile-and-a-half apart.

"The potential for the two fires to grow together in the upper Stonewall drainage is a high likelihood at this point.
 
The Park Creek Fire is about two miles north Lincoln, the Arrastra Creek Fire is about four miles further.

Sampson says crews have been making good progress using heavy equipment to create containment lines between the two fires and private and state land to the south, and, further south, the town of Lincoln.

"At this point, a threat to Lincoln proper is not likely."

Fire managers say previously burned areas near the Park Creek and Arrastra Creek fires should help slow their growth, but are not, quote, “show-stoppers.”

Today, firefighters on the Arrastra Creek fire initiated a small burnout on the southwest corner of the fire to consume unburned fuels between the fire's edge and the control line.

Heavy equipment arrives at the Chinn fire in Meagher County.
Credit Inciweb
Heavy equipment arrives at the Chinn fire in Meagher County.

On the Lolo Peak Fire, south of Missoula, 237 firefighters are working the 1,600 acre blaze. They used aerial resources to attack spot fires that flared up since yesterday. On the ground, heavy equipment crews are building a control line near the OZ Ranch and from Mill Creek toward the Percell Ranch area. Crews planned to  work along the Mormon Peak Road (NFSR 612) and construct hand line across the Mormon Creek canyon. Structure assessment will continue in the Hwy 93 and Hwy 12 corridors.

There will be a Public Meeting Thursday, July 27, 7:00 p.m. at the Florence-Carlton Community Church, 20075 Old US Hwy 93, Florence. This meeting will be live streamed on both the Lolo National Forest and Bitterroot National Forest's Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/lolonationalforest/or https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverBitterrootNF/

Road and area closures remain in effect for the Lolo fire. Find details on those closures here.

Crews on the Sapphire Complex 27 miles southeast of Missoula today planned for burnout operations adjacent to private property below Babcock Mountain. Other crews worked building hand line around the fire's perimeter.

This complex consists of the Goat Creek, Sliderock, and Little Hogback fires. They're reported at over 6,000 acres in size, and 5 percent contained.

Officials today remind Rock Creek residents to leave room for firefighters and heavy equipment to operate.

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