Hunt for smoke begins after storm

By JIM MANN

The Daily Inter Lake

Firefighters will be hunting for holdover fires across Northwest Montana in the next few days, as a result of powerful thunderstorms that swept across the region Tuesday night.

Fires started to emerge immediately after the storm and throughout Wednesday, but all of them were met with stiff suppression efforts.

"We know there are more fires out there, they just haven't shown themselves yet," said Allen Chrisman, fire management officer on the Flathead National Forest.

The storm delivered an estimated 400 ground lightning strikes, along with varying amounts of rain across Northwest Montana. In many places the rain was enough to delay fire spread, Chrisman said.

"We got from a tenth of an inch to a half inch of rain across the forest," Chrisman said. "That kind of moisture is going to hold them down for a bit … If we hadn't gotten that moisture, I think we'd be off to the races this afternoon."

The largest fire to emerge so far is the Blackjack Ridge fire south of the Clark Fork River near Plains. That fire has covered 50 to 80 acres, coming within 400 feet of structures, according to Dan Cassidy, fire program manager for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

The front of the fire was quickly cut off by bulldozer lines and a strong cooperative effort among the DNRC, rural fire departments and the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes, Cassidy said.

On Wednesday, there were 50 people working on the fire along with bulldozers, four fire engines, a heavy helicopter and a retardant tanker making several drops.

The DNRC quickly contained and controlled nine fires its Libby protection area, but no fires have been spotted so far in the Swan Valley or in the Stillwater areas.

Chrisman said there were thick clusters of lightning activity that moved through the Swan Valley into the Bob Marshall Wilderness and across the northern Whitefish Divide.

Those areas were being watched closely by aerial patrols and lookouts in Glacier National Park on Wednesday afternoon. Initial attack was under way on two fires detected on the Tally Lake Ranger District.

Scott Emmerich, Glacier's Polebridge district ranger, said firefighters suppressed a new start about five miles south of Polebridge that was spotted from the Cyclone Lookout. Emmerich expects considerable holdover fire activity in the days to come.

"We had tons of lightning last night and hardly any rain," he said. "So I'm guessing that in the next week we are going to see a lot of stuff popping up."

Chrisman said gusty winds are in the forecast for mid- and high-elevation ridges.

"There is potential for fires to pick up some size after the time of detection," he said.

The Kootenai National Forest has ordered additional firefighters from outside the area to help with initial attack efforts, said Willie Sykes, the forest's public information officer.

On Wednesday, firefighters responded to several new fires on the Kootenai, where temperatures have soared past 100 degrees recently.

"We've had about five days of triple-digit temperatures," Sykes said.

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