Lightning fire grows to 135 acres
A wildfire that began during a lightning storm Wednesday morning had expanded to 135 acres by Thursday afternoon.
The Bear Creek Fire is burning six miles from the Spotted Bear Ranger Station. The fire is approximately 40 miles southeast of Kalispell.
Flathead National Forest spokeswoman Colter Pence said most of the Bear Creek Fire’s growth occurred Wednesday, with low to moderate fire activity on Thursday.
However, she noted that could change if severe thunderstorms slam the region today as predicted by the National Weather Service. For that reason, no ground crews have been put on the fire, although four single-engine air tankers were dropping retardant while two helicopters performed water drops throughout the day.
“There’s a red flag warning for tomorrow and we want to get through tomorrow’s weather before we consider putting people on the ground,” Pence said Thursday.
The Bear Creek Fire is southwest of the ranger station between Bruce Mountain and Chipmunk Peak. No structures are currently threatened.
Trail closures are in effect in the area, including the Bruce Creek Trail, which is directly adjacent to the fire.
The fire is burning through mixed high-altitude terrain and vegetation, including subalpine fir trees and part of the area scorched by the Chipmunk Fire in 2000.
A total of 14 fires were reported after Wednesday’s lightning storm; half of them are in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Of those outside the wilderness, four were upwind of the ranger station and not being given priority.
However, the other two are to the southwest.
The Late Creek Fire had only burned about one quarter-acre, but fire managers assigned six firefighters to it Thursday with the hope of having it out quickly.
The Addition Fire also was burning in the same area, but only reached one-tenth of an acre and was declared contained and controlled on Thursday.
“These three fires are aligned, if the storm pushed them, they’re aligned to move toward the Spotted Bear Ranger Station area,” Pence said. “We’re just focusing the management on these three fires because they’re the ones that could be a headache later on.”
Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-44078 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.