Fire's growth forces evacuations

The fast-growing Copper King Fire east of Thompson Falls forced the evacuations of at least 20 structures early Monday morning, with additional residents on pre-evacuation notice.

The nearly 7,000-acre fire’s expansion also sent thick smoke into the Flathead Valley, dropping ash on homes from Lakeside to Creston and obscuring views on Flathead Lake Sunday and Monday. The smoke traveled as far as Eastern Montana, where air-quality alerts were in effect Monday for areas along the Hi-Line.

Sanders County Emergency Manager Bill Naegeli said that residents near Thompson Falls were evacuated between 4 and 6 a.m. Monday after the wildfire more than doubled in size Sunday and continued its march through the Lolo National Forest.

The evacuation order from the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office applies along Little Thompson River Road, between mile markers 8 and 18. It includes mostly summer cabins, according to Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel.

Pre-evacuation notices are in effect for residents between the evacuation area and Montana 200, as well as residents of homes along Buffalo Bill Creek, Weeksville Creek and Munson Creek roads.

A red flag warning remained in effect through the day Monday, with high, sustained winds pushing the fire along several drainages along the rapidly growing fire front.

“Everything at this point hinges upon the weather,” Rummel said Monday afternoon.

He added that any additional evacuation notices would be posted to his office’s Facebook page.

A temporary Red Cross shelter has been set up for evacuated residents at Thompson Falls High School.

Fire information officer John Hamilton said the estimate of 30 percent containment before Sunday likely would change after the fire’s wind-driven run through heavy timber Sunday and Monday added an estimated 4,000 new acres.

“I don’t think that’s accurate; there’s so much more fire edge out there, now I’d say it’s more like 10, 15 percent,” Hamilton said. “The saving grace, I guess you could call it, for this increase is it’s gone out of some real rugged ground and into some ground with roads and more gentle terrain, so we have an opportunity to do more direct attack.”

That includes “every hot shot crew” in the region, he said, along with more than 300 firefighting personnel, about 20 engines, bulldozers and a couple “Bigfoot” engines — fire engines mounted on skidder bodies.

A Type I Incident Management team will assume command of the fire this morning, bringing additional resources to a fire that is already one of the state’s most expensive this year. The Northern Rockies Coordination Center listed total suppression costs at $8.1 million by Sunday night. It has been outspent only by the $9.8 million Roaring Lion Fire near Hamilton.

The fire started July 31.

No structures had been lost by late Monday afternoon, and Hamilton said no firefighters had been seriously injured.

Describing the situation on the ground as “chaotic,” Hamilton said he’s had his hands full attempting to debunk false information on social media platforms about the evacuation status in the area.

“There’s been a lot of confusion about that, and Facebook rumors have been flying around,” Hamilton said. “We try to get good info out there and stick with it, but in the social media age it’s kind of hard, really. There’s a lot of different avenues for getting your information now, and some aren’t that reliable.”

For updated information on the Copper King Fire, call the incident management team’s information line at 406-826-4345.

Updates to evacuation and pre-evacuation status will be posted to the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page at bit.ly/2byjQ1P.

While cooler weather and a drop in wind speed today could give firefighters a chance to make progress on the Copper King Fire, portions of Northwest Montana were placed under a “high” fire danger alert Monday morning.

That includes Flathead and Lincoln counties, along with Glacier National Park, the Flathead and Kootenai national forests and land managed by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Ali Evans, a fire education and prevention specialist for the state department, said no fire restrictions are in effect, but land agencies ask that residents take extra precautions to avoid inadvertently starting a wildland fire.

“If you look around the valley and you see all those fields and all that cured grass, you can imagine what a spark would do on a windy day like today,” she said.

There were five fire starts in the last week, including one sparked by a lawn mower, as well as a half-acre fire on Monday near Essex started from a downed power line.

Debris burning is illegal in Flathead County until October. Evans added that one of the past week’s starts was due to a still-smoldering debris pile that had been burned last spring.

Early Monday evening, a wildfire was reported up Bierney Creek near Lakeside. Evans said it had only grown to about three acres, but was showing “active fire behavior” and was threatening structures.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources personnel were responding, along with heavy equipment. Evans said aerial support had also been requested.

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