Reservation campfire becomes 50-acre fire

An unattended campfire near Rainbow Lake on the Flathead Indian Reservation raged out of control Monday and Tuesday, quickly burning through an estimated 50 acres of grass and timber.

“It’s burning kind of like it’s August,” said Devlin LaFrombois, a spokesman for Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Fire Management.

“We’re just trying to keep it away from Highway 28 and the lake. There’s a few houses to the west of the fire, but right now they’re not in any immediate threat — the fire’s pretty much moving northeast.”

Steep, rocky terrain, snags and thick downfall were making firefighting efforts difficult, and by Tuesday evening the fire was still zero percent contained. It’s burning about three miles southwest of the lake, which lies about halfway between Plains and Hot Springs.

Three single-engine tankers were dropping retardant on the fire and a medium helicopter also was working on the fire. The state and the tribes were providing multiple engines and each agency had a 20-person crew on the ground.

Persistent winds were complicating hopes of getting the fire under control. LaFrombois noted the fire activity had remained high through Monday night and into Tuesday.

“That area gets quite a bit of wind off the lake,” he added. “It’s going to be an ongoing one. Even if they do corral it, there’s going to be a lot of pop-up.”

Fire officials are still investigating the unattended campfire that ignited the fire and LaFrombois said they don’t yet know who started it.

“We would like to stress to the public and to hunters: It’s still dry and campfires are still causing trouble.”

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