Weather has been ally in fire season - so far
It’s been a relatively muted fire season in Northwest Montana so far this year, with the exception of the 1,465-acre Copper King Fire burning east of Thompson Falls.
However, a break in the cool, wet weather at the end of this week could quickly change that, with more than a month still left in the region’s typical time frame for wildfires.
Recent thunderstorm systems brought some fire activity through the region, and more than a dozen fires were detected in the Kootenai National Forest within the past several days while eight fires sprang up in the Flathead National Forest during the last week.
On Tuesday, Flathead Forest officials announced that the 12-acre Piper Fire had prompted the closure of a portion of the Mission Mountain Wilderness east of Pablo.
Forest fire management officer Rick Connell said Monday’s warm weather caused increased activity on the fire and put up a smoke plume visible from U.S. 93, but Tuesday’s rain had helped to keep it in check.
“Today they got a little rain on it and we’re monitoring it, but we haven’t flown because of the weather,” Connell said. “It’s still well within the wilderness area and on a northern aspect, so I don’t expect it to make any big runs without a lot of drying and a lot of wind.”
The fire closure includes areas in Lake County near Moore Lake, Piper Creek and Cedar Creek. To view a map of the Piper Fire closure, visit www.fs.usda.gov/detail/flathead/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD513947.
The other fires in the Flathead Forest had been extinguished or were being mopped up by Tuesday afternoon, with the exception of the Cannon Fire — a tiny, lightning-started blaze in the Bob Marshall Wilderness being allowed to burn itself out on a ridgetop.
Connell added that Tuesday’s rain had likely put the fire out already.
Rainstorms over the past 72 hours had provided varying levels of precipitation throughout the region, as of Tuesday afternoon.
Meteorologist Genki Kino, with the National Weather Service Office in Missoula, said areas near Glacier National Park had received more than half of an inch as of 1 p.m. Tuesday. Nearly an inch had fallen at Hungry Horse Dam during that time frame, and West Glacier’s rain gauge registered about .6 inches.
While only 0.03 inches had fallen in Thompson Falls since Sunday afternoon, the incident management team working on the Copper King Fire predicted that Tuesday’s cooler weather would provide an opportunity to expand structure protection and fire lines around the blaze.
Continued higher humidities and cooler temperatures could provide a respite for local fire responders through today, but a shift back to more seasonal weather could bring prime fire conditions by the weekend.
“After [today] we kind of head toward a drier period with warmer temperatures by the end of the week and the potential for lightning storms along the Continental Divide,” Kino said. “By Saturday we’re looking at temperatures in the upper 80s.”
Flathead National Forest spokeswoman Janette Turk noted that the quiet fire season shouldn’t lull residents into failing to take measures to protect their homes and properties.
For suggestions to fire-safe private property and avoid accidentally sparking a wildland fire, she recommended visiting www.facebook.com/discovertheflathead.
The following are summaries of recent fire activity on the Copper King Fire and in the Kootenai National Forest:
After burning for nearly a week through steep, rocky terrain, the Copper King wildfire’s growth had slowed by Tuesday morning, with the fire’s incident management team reporting 5 percent containment.
Recent cool weather in the area helped slow the spread and provided relief to the 387 personnel working on the blaze.
According to fire officials, the total acreage is estimated to be 1,465 as of Tuesday — a modest increase in the past few days compared to the rapid growth last week.
Officials reported success in air and ground operations, including retardant drops to hold the fire’s edge along the southern and to the western edges of the fire’s perimeter.
Crews had also begun assessing potential threats to structures along Montana 200 to Weeksville.
No evacuation orders have been issued, but a population protection plan has been prepared with the Sanders County Emergency Services and the Sanders County Sheriff’s Department.
• Clark Fork Valley Press
Lightning storms started a total of 12 fires in the Kootenai National Forest from Saturday through Monday.
Jamey Graham, assistant center manager at the Kootenai National Forest said the fires that have started since Aug. 6 burned only a small acreage of land in total.
“Acreage-wise, it’s been minimal — we’re talking maybe two acres total. They’re all really small, single-tree fires,” Graham said. “We definitely got a fair amount of lightning, but so far this is all we’ve picked up out of it.”
Graham said each fire garnered between three and 10 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, several of which would travel from site to site. Calls reporting fires to dispatch came from McKillop Creek, Coyote Ridge, Poker Hill and Fritz Mountain areas.
“They’ve only got the amount of resources that we’ve got,” Graham said. “We’ve got to shuffle them around sometimes.”
While storms brought the lightning that ignited these small burns, Graham said only .10-.75-inch of rain fell during that time, depending on the monitoring stations.
• The Western News