Fires cover 70,000 acres
<p>This map shows fire starts across the Spotted Bear Ranger District of Flathead National Forest.</p>
<p>This map shows areas closed by the Thompson-Divide Complex of fires in Glacier National Park and Flathead National Forest. A firefighting force of 265 people, including three helicopters and 15 engines, is working on the fires, with the Sheep Fire the top priority since it is closest to U.S. 2 and the community of Essex. Vehicle traffic is being guided by pilot cars along U.S. 2 between mile markers 178 and 185. One of two BNSF Railway lines is open to train traffic; the other line is dedicated to firefighting efforts. Firefighting crews have been carried in on a work train to create…
So far this summer, fires across Northwest Montana have burned more than 70,000 acres, with suppression costs totaling over $21 million.
Most of that money was spent early in the fire season on Glacier National Park’s Reynolds Creek Fire, which as the first large blaze in the region received ample aerial resources while racking up big expenses. To date, $12.7 million has been spent on the 4,850-acre fire north of St. Mary Lake.
The Thompson-Divide Complex, which includes the 17,750-acre Thompson Fire in Glacier Park and several fires burning south of U.S. 2, has cost $3.6 million and counting.
Farther west, the Northeast Kootenai and Clark Fork complexes burning in the Kootenai National Forest, have thus far totaled $2 million and $1.9 million in suppression costs, respectively.
Along with the Goat Rock complex fires and the Bear Creek Fire, the major fires in the region have consumed half of the estimated $40 million spent statewide on wildland fires in the Montana, according to the Northern Rockies Coordination Center.
That organization coordinates firefighting efforts throughout a region including Montana, northern Idaho, North Dakota, Yellowstone National Park and part of South Dakota. Throughout that vast territory, more than 3,000 fires have burned over 330,000 acres this year, and fire season is far from over.
At least 249 large fires — those that burned at least 100 acres of timber or 300 acres of grassland or involved national resources such as smokejumpers — have scorched Northwest Montana, according to Paula Short of the Northern Rockies Coordination Center. The Kootenai National Forest has responded to 148 such fires and 96 have flared up in the Flathead National Forest.
Glacier Park has had two major wildfires and the 3,300-acre Melton 1 Fire is the only fire to grow into a significant problem on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has responded to 164 wildfires in the region this year, but just two of them hit triple digits: the Weigel Fire at 100 acres, and the Twin Creek Fire at 102 acres. Altogether the fires on land under state jurisdiction have burned 768 acres.
In a news release, the Northern Rockies Coordination Center stressed that agencies and the public have been working together to keep a bad situation from getting worse while noting that meteorologists have been “unable to find significant relief on the weather horizon.”
Yet despite a continuation of hot and dry conditions, the relentless smoke over the past few days has provided some relief to firefighters.
While many firefighting helicopters and planes were grounded due to visibility once again on Tuesday, little significant growth was reported on any of the large fires burning in the region.
Information officers working on the Thompson-Divide, Northeast Kootenai and Clark Fork complex fires said fire growth appeared to be moderate by Tuesday afternoon.
All reported that ground crews had succeeded in getting more fire lines dug as activity remained relatively quiet, although the potential for dry thunderstorms later in the week could reinvigorate many of those fires and start new ones.
Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilso@dailyinterlake.com.