Helicopters douse quick-moving fire

A quick-moving grass fire west of Kalispell burned 4 acres on Wednesday afternoon before crews contained the blaze that threatened a couple nearby homes.

Multiple fire engines, two helicopters with water buckets and a small airplane were dispatched to assist in extinguishing the blaze off Farm to Market Road near Church Drive. The fire was reported at 1:30 p.m. and crews were mopping up 45 minutes later.

Ali Ulwelling with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation said the state agency is dispatching two engines, two helicopters and an airplane for all smoke reports.

“Because of that quick response, we got it knocked down quickly,” Ulwelling said. “45 minutes, that’s pretty amazing.”

The fire was human-caused, possibly started by sparks from a vehicle dragging a metal object, Ulwelling said. Responding agencies included DNRC, Evergreen, West Valley and South Kalispell fire departments, and one engine from the Flathead Forest.

Ulwelling noted that fire danger in Northwest Montana is rated at extreme and that stage 2 restrictions are in place across the region. A red flag warning was issued for the Flathead Valley on Wednesday morning, meaning that dangerous fire behavior was likely due to gusting winds and low humidity. Winds were gusting at 20 mph on Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service, even after the red flag warning expired.

“Fuel moistures are tracking historically low, in the 97th percentile. Any start could grow quickly,” Ulwelling said.

“Our crews are working six days a week, 12 hour days to be available for any [new fire] start. We’re all waiting and available to hit these when they’re small.”

Also on Wednesday, several engines responded to a 0.1-acre fire off Canyon Creek Road and North Fork Road burning in grass, brush and slash.

Firefighting resources were dispatched to 241 fire incidents in July.