Fires near Trego take off up Mount Marston

As many as 26 new fires had been reported in the Kootenai National Forest area by Friday evening, with a previously reported pair of fires on Mount Marston erupting to cover 1,200 acres.

The two fires were being managed as a single incident dubbed the Marston Fire and are burning about two miles northeast of Dickey Lake and four miles northeast of Trego.

The fires are threatening the Mount Marston Lookout.

They began from lightning strikes Tuesday morning and Fortine District Ranger Bryan Donner said initial attack crews had held the combined fires at bay for about a day before they took off up the mountain.

“We had 17 individuals on this fire Tuesday and Wednesday,” Donner said. “On Wednesday afternoon, due to the steepness, heavy vegetation, warm temperatures and direct sunlight, the fire grew into an unsafe situation.”

No ground crews had been placed back on the fire as of 5 p.m. Friday. Aerial attacks continued with retardant and water drops but were ineffective.

“The fire is spreading out in just about all directions, both up and over into the Whitefish Range, as well as creeping back down the slope toward Highway 93,” he said, noting that the rate of growth to the south was slow and did not pose a threat to the road or any structures aside from the lookout.

Donner said he expects the lookout to survive, however, since crews wrapped it and an adjacent structure before the fire advanced up the mountain.

Bulldozers and other heavy equipment were being used to construct indirect lines, which he explained are dug farther back from the fire than typical fire lines and may be paired up with some backburning to reduce fuels at the fire front.

A Type II Incident Management team will take over suppression operations on the Marston Fire on Sunday.

“The current situation within the Northern Rockies and with us has turned severely towards a depletion of resources, so at this time we’re very fortunate that we’ll be receiving a Type II management team,” Donner added.

Elsewhere on the Kootenai Forest, the Weigel Fire had burned 100 acres and the Dunn Fire had burned 74 acres. Lines had been established around both fires.

The Weigel Fire is 24 miles northeast of Libby. The Dunn Fire is on Plum Creek Timber Co. land near the Fisher River.

Dan Rose, a fire management officer for the Kootenai National Forest, said neither fire expanded significantly despite windy conditions Friday.

“The Weigle and Dunn Fires held really well today through the wind,” he said. “We were really fortunate that the team and resources were out there and got a lot that work done yesterday.”

He added that the Klatawa Fire, burning an estimated 156 acres in the Cabinet Mountains southwest of Libby, didn’t pose an immediate threat by Friday evening, but could grow as winds were forecast to pick up again overnight.

“The fortunate thing is it’s well up in the drainage right now, so it would have to come four to five miles down the drainage before it impacts any private property,” Rose said.

Reporter Samuel Wilson may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.