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Powerful, gusting winds fanned the flames of a new wildfire in a thickly wooded residential area west of Lakeside on Monday, pushing the fire across 80 acres and threatening an estimated 75 to 100 structures within a half-mile of the fire.
The Bierney Creek Fire was first reported at about 3:30 p.m. Monday. The cause of the fire is unknown and currently under investigation, according to Ali Evans, the spokeswoman for the incoming Type III Incident Management Team.
No structures had been lost by nightfall, and Evans added that fire activity had decreased significantly.
“It’s pretty well boxed in with retardant drops. The heavy tankers were hitting it pretty hard this evening,” Evans said at 9 p.m. Monday. “They really went aggressive with air operations as the wind died down, we lost the sun and it started cooling off.”
In addition to three helicopters and three planes, several bulldozers and multiple engines were being used to suppress the fire.
The Bierney Creek Fire’s large plume of smoke was visible from throughout the Flathead Valley Monday, and spectators lined the roads lacing the wooded hills of the neighborhoods up Bierney Creek Road. The fire is around 2 miles from Lakeside.
Wind gusts throughout the afternoon pushed thick plumes of smoke along the ridge top where the fire burned, and trees periodically erupted in flame, visible to residents who took photos and video while helicopters and planes continuously buzzed overhead.
Jen and Tanner Dana watched as the setting sun glowed orange behind the curtain of smoke. They were parked alongside a half-dozen cars across a field providing the firefighters’ temporary base of operations.
“My sister-in-law lives right down the road, so we came down to help her evacuate, if necessary,” Jen Dana explained, while Tanner sat atop his car recording the helicopter drops with his new camera.
Neither Dana’s sister-in-law nor any of the other residents in the area had been evacuated, but residents had voluntarily left at least four homes along Lone Wolf Trail. State and local firefighters began structure protection measures throughout the burn area, according to incident commander Nick Merriman, a Kalispell-based state fire chief.
Immediately after the fire was reported, crews from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and Somers-Lakeside Volunteer Fire Department split management of the firefighting effort. They were joined by responders from the South Kalispell, West Valley and Badrock fire departments, as well as the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and Office of Emergency Services.