Lightning sparks two more fires
As firefighters tightened their grips on the Camp 32 fire southwest of Eureka on
Tuesday afternoon, a passing lightning storm touched off at least one fire east of town and
another in Glacier National Park.
As firefighters tightened their grips on the Camp 32 fire southwest of Eureka on Tuesday afternoon, a passing lightning storm touched off at least one fire east of town and another in Glacier National Park.
A smoke plume became visible shortly after the storm passed on Gibralter Ridge, about eight miles east of Eureka.
"We can see it from the office window here," said Terry Knupp, public information officer for the incident command team assigned to the 800-acre Camp 32 fire.
Knupp said helicopters were diverted from the Camp 32 fire to Gibraltar Ridge after the smoke was spotted. The fire desk at the Flathead National Forest also requested an air tanker for the Gibralter Ridge fire.
Soon after, lookouts in Glacier Park spotted a fire on Logging Ridge, just above Logging Lake on the park's west side.
"It's way up on the upper slopes of Logging Ridge. It was spotted from Numa Lookout," said Mitch Burgard, the park's acting fire management officer.
Burgard said park officials were discussing different approaches to the fire. Because the fire is so high on the ridge, any suppression effort likely won't start until this morning, and the fire may be a candidate to become a natural prescribed fire, Burgard said.
After speaking with officials in Waterton Lakes National Park, Burgard said, it appears the lightning storm was concentrated mostly north of the Canadian border.
The Camp 32 fire, meanwhile, was contained within firelines that quickly were cut by a relatively small force of dozers and handcrews during the 24 hours after the fire blew up Sunday afternoon.
Knupp said hot spots and considerable unburned fuels still exist within the fire's perimeter. As of Tuesday afternoon, about 150 people were on the fire, and that force was expected to increase to about 250 people by today.