Lightning sparks 60 new fires

By JIM MANN

Rainfall helps dampen new starts

The Daily Inter Lake

Northwest Montana was pounded by lightning Thursday night, but firefighters were able to snuff dozens of new fire starts with the help of rain and cooler temperatures.

"We had 50 reported fires before the rain last night, and luckily it did rain," said Charlie Webster, fire management officer on the Kootenai National Forest. "Right now we have 28 fires staffed and we are responding to four others and we expect to keep picking them over the next few days."

None of the fires on the Kootenai Forest - and none of the 10 new starts around the Flathead Valley - were larger than an acre.

Allen Chrisman, fire management officer on the Flathead National Forest, said there has been an "incredible" number of initial-attack fire responses - about 90 across Northwest Montana since Tuesday.

He and Webster attribute the success in stopping the fires largely to weather.

While Thursday's storms delivered 1,200 lightning strikes across Lincoln County and about half that number in Flathead County, they also delivered rain ranging from .17 inches to .3 inches. Lower temperatures and higher humidities also have given firefighters time to catch up with fires that are reported.

Chrisman said there also has been strong communication and coordination between the Forest Service, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Glacier National Park and rural fire departments.

Chrisman said weather forecasters are now projecting that Northwest Montana will receive a pattern of storm fronts every three to five days that are expected to bring lightning and rain. Even modest intervals of rain should alleviate the fire severity throughout the region, he said.

The region is currently at the highest national preparedness level for fires, a ranking that required the Flathead Forest to seek approval from the Forest Service regional and national offices to proceed with four "fire-use" fires in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. All of the fires are currently small with little activity.

Two are at the southern end of the wilderness near Cardinal Peak, surrounded by natural barriers and old fire perimeters. One near Black Bear in the South Fork Flathead drainage is surrounded by burns from recent years. Another on Triangle Peak in the Great Bear Wilderness started near the top of a ridge in a rocky area where it is expected to burn itself out.

There was little activity, meanwhile, on the Red Eagle Fire burning on Glacier National Park's east side. But the size of the fire was once again expanded from 30,000 acres to 32,000 acres due to improved mapping.

The fire grew by at least 7,000 acres this week, mostly on Tuesday, when it made a considerable run into three drainages in Glacier's interior that are ringed by steep rocky ridges.

The fire is considered 70 percent contained, with 647 people working on it.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com