510 homes threatened by wildfire near Plains

Six major wildfires burning along the Highway 200 corridor near Plains and Thompson Falls has grown to more than 13,310 acres and is threatening hundreds of homes.

At 8,978-acres, the Sheep Gap Fire is the largest of the complex with flames visible from Plains and along the highway corridor. The fire is now burning about 3 to 4 miles from the edge of town, according to fire public information officer Tim Engrav.

Roughly 510 homes are threatened by the fire and 100 residences from the end of River Road to Arnold Road have been notified of mandatory evacuations by the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office. Engrav said the threatened homes are in rural areas outside of town.

“Crews are working on containment lines to keep it from moving farther east where it would threaten most of those places,” he told the Inter Lake.

Firefighters have finished preparing structure protection on the north side and the fire was backing down the slope.

Also burning in the Highway 200 area, the Deep Creek Fire is at 4,089 acres and the Moose Peak Fire is at 4,993 acres.

Firefighters are focused on keeping the fire from crossing to the west side of Deep Creek and scouting for contingency line opportunities. Fire growth occurred on the north, east, and south sides of the fire Monday. The fire did surround the Cougar Peak Lookout but structure suppression actions were in place. Fire activity is expected to continue up around Graves Peak and in the upper part of Graves Creek.

Heavy smoke and inversions on Tuesday slowed fire growth in the area, but also grounded aircraft from water drops and observation efforts.

“It’s good and bad when you got the smoke like this,” Engrav said.

Engrav said similar weather with low-hanging smoke is expected again Wednesday before a chance of thunderstorms arrives on Thursday and Friday.

Officials are warning residents in the Plains, Thompson Falls and Trout Creek areas that fire conditions will likely change quickly over the next few days and that everyone should have an evacuation plan in place.

For residents who have already been evacuated, a Red Cross shelter has been set up at Plains Alliance Church. However, Engrav said no one was staying there as of Tuesday.

“Folks have found other places to stay,” he said, noting that the shelter remains on standby.

Sprague Fire

The Sprague Fire on the west side of Glacier National Park grew slightly Tuesday to 13,343 acres.

The fire is now established in the Walton drainage to the south of Lincoln Lake Trail. Two helicopters on Monday dipped out of Lake McDonald and worked to cool the fire in the Mount Brown area.

An evacuation order remains in effect from the south end of Lake McDonald north to Logan Pass. This does not include the Apgar area. Logan Pass is still accessible from the east side of the Park.

Flathead County structure firefighters from Evergreen Fire Rescue, Bad Rock Fire, Coram-West Glacier Fire, and West Valley Fire spent Monday sizing up the Lake McDonald Lodge and complex for defensibility. Tuesday hose and sprinklers were placed in the Avalanche Creek Campground area. Mop up and structure protection work continue around the Sperry Chalet complex.

Most areas of the park remain open, including the North Fork, Apgar Village, the Going-to-the-Sun Road between St. Mary and Logan Pass, Granite Park Chalet, Two Medicine, St. Mary, Many Glacier and Goat Haunt.

Adair Peak

The Adair Peak fire in Glacier National Park is now at 1,335 acres. The fire is burning in a remote area of the park on the south side of Logging Lake. Fire managers expect the fire behavior to moderate as this fire enters old fire scars. Hutton’s Wildland Fire Management Team assumed command of the fire Tuesday morning.

West Fork

The West Fork Fire and the Mount Tom fire near Libby grew together Monday night. It is estimated at 5,760 acres with no report on containment.

Structure protection assessment is on-going. Firefighters will be constructing fire line and heavy equipment will be used north of Bobtail to construct containment lines which may be used for burnout operations.

Closure orders remain in place for the West Fork Fire.

The Rocky Mountain Team led by Jay Esperance, assumed command of the West Fork/Mount Tom and Moose Peak Fires on Tuesday.

Gibralter Ridge

The Gibralter Ridge Fire east of Eureka is at 7,195 acres, however firefighters will continue to mop-up, patrol and monitor the west, south and east sides of the fire. Firelines continue to hold, fire growth is minimal, and no new structures have been lost.

Pre-evacuation warnings and closure orders are in place in the vicinity of the fire areas.

Rice Ridge Fire

On Monday, the Rice Ridge Fire and the Reef Fire near Seeley Lake grew together toward the north within the Bob Marshall Wilderness, adding the majority of increased fire acreage that now totals 108,000 acres.

Greg Poncin’s Northern Rockies Type 1 Incident Management Team assumed command of the fire Tuesday morning.

Firefighters worked on the primary control line north of Seeley Lake, and did line improvement throughout the area, including the bottom of Morrell Creek.

A large spot fire to the east of the main fire grew significantly in the North Fork of the Blackfoot River directly north of the North Fork Trailhead.

An inversion over the entire fire area did not allow any aircraft to fly in support of fire operations Tuesday.

Structure protection was taking place along the Highway 83 corridor, Kozy Korner, Double Arrow subdivision, the Big Sky Lake area and Monture Guard Station.

Shelters are set up at in Seeley Lake at Camp Paxson on Boy Scout Road, and at the Ovando Elementary School.