Wilderness fire grows to 2,000 acres

Flathead Valley residents got to take in a familiar summer spectacle Wednesday: Smoke columns towering over the Swan Mountain Range.

The smoke was pouring from two fires burning in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The largest — on Big Salmon Lake — exploded to an estimated 2,000 acres as of Thursday morning.

It was the first time big smoke columns have been visible from the valley floor since summer 2007, with the 100,000-acre Chippy Creek Fire north of Plains and the 30,000-acre Brush Creek Fire west of Whitefish.

The lightning-caused Hammer Creek Fire is burning deep in the wilderness about 2 1/2 miles north of the Big Prairie Ranger Station along the South Fork Flathead River. It grew from 248 acres to an estimated 1,000 by Thursday morning.

“We have two fires and they are both burning very actively,” Spotted Bear District Ranger Deb Mucklow said Wednesday afternoon.

The Big Salmon Lake Fire was detected Tuesday afternoon from the Spotted Bear and Jumbo lookouts. It started near the north shore of Big Salmon Lake, which is inside the wilderness east of Holland Lake, and initially was estimated at 10 acres.

But Wednesday the fire took off into thick timber, sending up a wide smoke column visible from the Flathead Valley.

“The plane called it in at 100 acres, but it is actively burning,” Mucklow said at about 1 p.m. By early evening, it was estimated to have burned more than 730 acres and the latest estimate put the size at 2,000 acres.

It is burning so actively that it complicated plans for getting firefighters into the remote area.

“A long-term [suppression] plan is being developed,” Mucklow said. “This is a location where we would not have wanted to have a fire. We are developing plans that will account for firefighter safety.”

While the Hammer Creek Fire is mostly being allowed to burn to the east for resource benefits in the wilderness, suppression actions have been necessary to keep the fire from crossing to the west side of the South Fork River, which could force the closure of a busy west-side trail.

A trail following the east side of the river has been closed north of Big Prairie, and structure protection measures have been taken at the Big Prairie Ranger Station and a nearby pack bridge.

The trail to Big Salmon Lake, a well-used access into the wilderness for packers over Holland Pass, has been closed and the Lime Creek trail also has been closed due to the Big Salmon Lake Fire.

Structure protection efforts are planned for the Salmon Forks cabin, Salmon Forks suspension bridge and the Little Salmon Bridge.

Outside the wilderness, the South Fork Lost Creek Fire also gained ground in steep, forested terrain about seven miles southeast of the community of Swan Lake. The fire was 520 acres Tuesday but it was estimated at 608 acres by Wednesday afternoon.

The fire was less active than the wilderness fires, partly because expected higher winds didn’t happen, said Pat Cross, an information officer with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

The human-caused fire started along the South Lost Creek Road and burned uphill into terrain that is highly inaccessible. However, firefighters have had success in cutting firelines along the west and south flanks, while helicopters have been doing water drops at higher elevations.

There are five helicopters and about 190 people, including four hotshot crews, working on the fire. The estimated cost of fighting the fire is $908,000 so far.

Meanwhile in the Flathead Valley, firefighters responded to several fires that cropped up along Montana 206 south of Columbia Falls roughly between Eckelberry Drive and Blackmere Lane.

The Creston Fire Department responded to one that started in a ditch and burned about an acre, said Creston Fire Chief Gary Mahugh.

“It could have been something mechanical from a vehicle,” Mahugh said. “We haven’t found anything that indicated cause.”

Mahugh said that all three fires along the highway were extinguished. The Badrock Fire Department responded to the others with assistance from the Columbia Falls and Hungry Horse fire departments.

“If there’s a message, it’s dry enough for things to burn,” Mahugh said.

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