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

Montana Wildfire Roundup For August 22, 2016

HB-481 would allow counties to have the initial attack authority on wildfires.
Inciweb
Interior of the Copper King Fire.

The latest news on wildfires around western Montana.

Last update 9:25 p.m. 08/22/16

A fire near Missoula has forced residents of Colorado Gulch in the Grant Creek area to evacuate. The Missoula County Sheriff's Office is also telling other nearby residents to be ready to evacuate. The Rattlesnake Recreation Area has been closed as a precautionary measure.

Update 6:25 p.m. 08/22/16

Public safety officials are on alert across Western Montana as red flag fire weather is forecast to persist until at least 9:00 tonight. That means westerly winds gusting to 40 miles per hour and very low humidity levels.

The Flathead Beacon reports that firefighters are responding to a new, small wildfire above Lakeside. It’s estimated at between 5 and 10 acres. The Beacon says no evacuations have been ordered and that the Flathead County Sheriff was en route to assess the scene. At least one helicopter is dropping water the fire.

At least 20 rural homes were evacuated early this morning near Thompson Falls after a local wildfire more than doubled in size. More evacuations may be necessary if today’s predicted strong winds continue to stir up the Copper King fire. It’s burned east of Thompson Falls since late July.

Incident spokeswoman Glenda Scott describes the conditions that allowed the fire to make such a major run late Sunday:

"Strong winds, low relative humidity and high temperatures. (All that) aligned with the drainages such that it pushed through the country pretty fast."

By midnight Monday the fire had doubled in size to 6,900 acres. Officials suspect it could be much bigger than that, but won’t confirm anything until more mapping is complete.

The evacuation orders affected almost 2 dozen homes and structures along Little Thompson River Road.

An elite Type 1 incident management team, led by Greg Poncin, assumes control of the Copper King fire this afternoon.

A community meeting will be held tonight at 7:00 at the Thompson Falls Community Center at 108 Fulton Street.

Copper King Fire perimeter as of 08/22/16.
Credit inciweb
Copper King Fire perimeter as of 08/22/16.

The Great Falls Tribune reports that several agencies responded to a fast-moving grass fire near Vaughn today. It burned an estimated 500 acres before firefighters fully contained it at about 1:30, the Tribune says.

And the biggest wildfire in Yellowstone National Park has grown significantly, forcing firefighters to take measures to protect nearby park facilities in case it shifts direction.

All the park's main tourist facilities and roads remain open, but the flames are creeping toward a key road linking the West Entrance to the park's interior. The fire is one of four burning in Yellowstone.

Safety officials say they’re going to keep the fire to the north of the West Entrance Road, and that they have plans in place if the fire were to move to the west toward West Yellowstone, or if the West Entrance road has to be closed. 

There’s a public meeting in West Yellowstone tonight about the fires from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the Union Pacific Dining Hall.
 

Update: 12:30 p.m. 08/22/16

The Copper King fire, burning about 8 miles east of Thompson Falls, made a huge run yesterday. It doubled in size to an estimated 6,900 acres, an estimate fire officials say is, "a low estimate of the actual burn."

The Sanders County Sheriff early this morning issued evacuation orders for some homes in the Little Thompson River and nearby Hwy 200 just south of the fire.

The main Thompson River corridor, Loneman Creek, Buffalo Bill, Hideaway Lane, Weeksville and Munson Creek areas are under pre-evacuation notice. The Little Thompson River road has been closed from the 8 to 18 mile markers, and the Loneman road is closed to the intersection with the main Thompson River road system.

A Type 1 incident management team led by Greg Poncin assumes control of the Copper King fire tonight. It’s 30 percent contained and continues to actively burn in steep, rocky terrain. Warm, dry weather and westerly winds pushed it towards the east along the top of Kookoosint Ridge. Upslope winds increased fire activity in Buckeye Canyon. That fire sent smoke pouring into the Flathead Valley. Fire officials have called a community meeting this evening to discuss the latest information. That meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Thompson Falls Community Center at 108 Fulton Street.

Continued high fire danger is expected on the Copper King fire and across the state today. A red flag warning is in effect until 9:00 p.m. for all of western Montana. Westerly winds will increase this afternoon, occasionally gusting to over 40 miles an hour. The strongest winds are expected to hit between 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Relative humidity will range from only 8 to 14 percent. Any fires that develop would likely spread rapidly. Outdoor burning is not recommended.

Yellowstone National Park is holding a community meeting from 6:00 - 7:00 tonight at the Union Pacific Dining Hall in West Yellowstone to discuss the 22,488 acre Maple fire, which grew by 6,233 acres yesterday, and the other fires in the Tatanka Complex,  including the 2,279 acre Buffalo Fire and the 1,496 acre Fawn Fire.

The Maple fire remains 4 miles east of the Park’s west boundary and 5 miles northeast of West Yellowstone. It has not crossed the West Entrance Road and firefighters don’t think it will. The entire area is under a red flag warning this afternoon and evening.

A smaller Type IV incident command team assumes control of the Boundary Fire 4 miles north of West Yellowstone. That 192 acre fire is just inside the Yellowstone National Park boundary and is now 75 percent contained. Firefighters, including 10 smokejumpers, one hotshot crew and two Type 2 initial attack crews have established mop-up operations on the fire’s edge and are working deeper into its interior.

Currently all roads leading into and through the park are open.

The 8,400 acre Roaring Lion Fire south of Hamilton saw some active burning yesterday. Firefighters have that incident at 70 percent containment. Several fires burning in Idaho are pumping lots of smoke into the Bitterroot and Missoula Valleys and overshadowing the smoke produced by the Roaring Lion. Idaho’s Moose, Cedar and Elk Ridge fires are over 11 air miles from the Bitterroot Valley.

Mop-up operations continue on the 13 acre Black Mountain fire north of Lincoln on the Lincoln Ranger District. One 20-person crew and one helicopter are assigned to that incident.

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