Fire crews gear for possibility of lightning

While some firefighting resources are being redirected from the Flathead area to other parts of the state, local firefighters are gearing up for possible lightning today and tonight.

“We brought some resources in to help us through our period and now we’re putting them back into the system,” said Rick Connell, fire management officer on the Flathead National Forest.

Mostly overhead personnel but also some firefighters, aircraft and equipment have recently been dispatched elsewhere.

Connell is confident that local initial-attack firefighters can continue handling new fires.

“We’ve been doing really good,” he said, referring to more than 50 fires that have been quashed over the last month. “We’ve kept most of them small. The South Fork Lost Creek Fire was the only one that got significant.”

Burning about seven miles southeast of Swan Lake outside the Bob Marshall Wilderness, that fire has burned 1,215 acres but has been calm recently.

Inside the wilderness, activity on the Hammer Creek Fire picked up Tuesday afternoon and by Wednesday night it was estimated at 2,300 acres. The fire is burning northeast into the Lime Creek drainage.

“We’re comfortable about this drainage because of the natural barriers, the topography and the terrain,” Spotted Bear District Ranger Deb Mucklow said.

About 50 people had been assigned to the fire, including some smokejumpers, but most firefighters are being demobilized for assignments elsewhere.

Farther to the northwest in the wilderness, the Big Salmon Lake Fire has not been growing substantially lately and is still sized at 2,800 acres.

The only other active fire in the Flathead area is the Fitzsimmons Fire northeast of Stryker.

The fire originally was estimated to have covered 60 acres, but since has been downsized to 22 acres, said Brian Manning, manager of the Stillwater State Forest.

By Wednesday afternoon, fire line had been cut around the entire perimeter and mop-up was getting under way.

“We’re going to be mopping up for a few days because it’s on a steep rocky slope and there’s a lot of work to be done,” Manning said.

The National Weather Service fire weather forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms throughout Northwest Montana starting Wednesday night and continuing today.

The storms are expected to produce little rainfall and could be accompanied with strong, gusty winds.

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