Northwest Zone Interagency Fire Coordination Group
Jump to: Fire Restrictions | Weather | Evacuations | Fire Restriction Discussion | Fire Updates | Closures | Air Quality | Prevention Message | Media Contacts ZONE FIRE UPDATES RELEASE DATE: Thursday, August 16, 2018 – 2:00 p.m. Current Fire Danger: EXTREME FIRE RESTRICTIONS THE FOLLOWING JURISDICTIONS HAVE IMPLEMENTED STAGE II FIRE RESTRICTIONS: https://firerestrictions.us/stage/nr/stage-ii/ • Flathead National Forest (excluding Bob Marshall & Great Bear Wildernesses) • Glacier National Park • Kootenai National Forest • US Fish and Wildlife Service • Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (Northwest Land Office. State Land & Private Classified Forested Land within Lake, Lincoln, Sanders, and Flathead Counties.) • Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (Regions 1&2 within Kalispell Restrictions Area) • Counties: Flathead, Lake, Lincoln, and Sanders • Private Timber Company Lands of Weyerhaeuser and Stoltze (Stoltze Land & Lumber is imposing additional restrictions including: NO camping and NO use of motorized vehicles on or off road (unless on an open PUBLIC road).) • Private land within city limits is exempt, except for the cities of Whitefish and Columbia Falls
The Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Team, John Pierson, Incident Commander, will take over management duties on Friday, August 17 at 0600 for the following fires: Glacier National Park’s Howe Ridge Fire and the Flathead National Forest’s Paola Ridge, Coal Ridge, and Whale Butte Fires. This transition to the team will make more local resources available for responding to new fire starts, should the predicted weather produce lightning.
Fire Weather A high pressure ridge remains over the area today, with a slight chance of thunderstorms increasing through Friday, as monsoonal moisture moves into the area, raising the chance of wetting rain to 10% for much of northwest Montana. Slight chance of thunderstorms and rain continues through the weekend, with higher than normal temperatures in the 80s-90s at lower elevations and minimum humidities 18-28%.
U.S. Department U.S. Department Flathead County State of of Interior of Agriculture Montana Montana Montana Sanders County Montana
National Park Forest County Fire Office of Emergency Department of Montana Fish, Wildlife Service Service Wardens Services Natural Resources and Parks Association and Conservation Northwest Zone Interagency Fire Coordination Group
Fire Danger in western Montana is Extreme, and will likely remain so for a while. Northwest Montana continues to experience critical fire conditions including extremely dry forest fuels and minimal precipitation, and this trend is expected to continue through August. Fuel moisture indices are measuring at very low levels. Evacuations Flathead County 8/15/2018 12:30 p.m. An evacuation warning has been issued to a small number of residents near Essex due to the possibility of the Paola Ridge Fire extending close to or into the community. Deputies from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office are notifying affected residents directly. Specific area under this evacuation warning is from mile marker 176 to mile marker 179, including Branch Rd, Bugling Elk Trail, Dickey Creek Loop, Eagle Haunts Run, and Lazy Moose Trail. The evacuation warning and map can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/330684970393201/posts/1644607642334254/. Future updates to this information can be found at the Flathead County Office of Emergency Services Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/FlatheadOES Glacier National Park Howe Ridge Fire Evacuation Order: Avalanche and Sprague Creek Campgrounds, North Lake McDonald Road (including private residences and Lake McDonald Ranger Station), Lake McDonald Lodge Complex (all businesses, employees, and private residences), private residences along Going-to-the-Sun Road. The Going- to-the-Sun Road is closed near Apgar to Logan Pass on the west side. Apgar Village and most other areas of the park remain open. Glacier National Park Fire Line: 406-888-7077 Kootenai National Forest/Lincoln County The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office issued a pre-evacuation notice at 9:30pm on Aug. 11 for Edna Creek Road, Lake Creek Road, Sutton Ridge Road, and Swamp Creek Road. Residents in those areas are in the SET stage and need to be prepared to evacuate on short notice with important belongings, medicines, and pets prepared to leave. For the most up-to-date info on evacuations call 406-293-6295.
U.S. Department U.S. Department Flathead County State of of Interior of Agriculture Montana Montana Montana Sanders County Montana
National Park Forest County Fire Office of Emergency Department of Montana Fish, Wildlife Service Service Wardens Services Natural Resources and Parks Association and Conservation
Northwest Zone Interagency Fire Coordination Group
Fire Restriction Discussion For specific fire restriction orders, visit https://firerestrictions.us/mt/
Stage II:
• Campfires and other fires are prohibited everywhere. Liquid petroleum and LPG stoves that can be turned off are allowed. • Smoking is prohibited outside of vehicles, buildings, and developed recreation sites, unless you are in a 3-foot diameter area cleared of all burnable vegetation. • Operating motorized vehicles off designated roads and trails is prohibited. • Operating any internal combustion engine, welding, operating a torch with open flame and using explosives are prohibited from 1:00 pm – 1:00 a.m. A one-hour foot patrol in the work area is required following cessation of all of these activities.
FIRE UPDATES Flathead National Forest: The human-caused Crescent Lake Fire was discovered on 8/15 in the Mission Mountain Wilderness. Reported acres: 0.5 acres, with resources on-scene. (Controlled 8/16 at 1 acre). Fire Name Start Date Acres Cause Status Paola Ridge* August 11 400 Lightning Resources on scene Hungry Horse RD https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident /6140/ Coal Ridge* August 11 266 Lightning Resources shared Glacier View RD w/Paola https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident /6142/ Whale Butte August 11 4 Lightning Resources on scene Glacier View RD Brownstone August 2 1736 Lightning Active, remote Spotted Bear RD* location https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident /6103/
U.S. Department U.S. Department Flathead County State of of Interior of Agriculture Montana Montana Montana Sanders County Montana
National Park Forest County Fire Office of Emergency Department of Montana Fish, Wildlife Service Service Wardens Services Natural Resources and Parks Association and Conservation Northwest Zone Interagency Fire Coordination Group
* Visit InciWeb for more detailed information on these fires.
Kootenai National Forest* Fire Name Start Date Acres Cause Status Davis Fire* July 29 5724 Lightning 5% contained, Type 2 https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident IMT /6074/ Surprise Gulch August 11 13 Human Resources on scene 100% containment Tenmile* July 31 681 Lightning Resources on scene, https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6 91% containment 079/ Sterling Complex * August 11 907 Lighting Resources on scene https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6 27% containment 137/ Gold Hill* August 11 122 Lightning Resources on scene https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6 143/ * Visit InciWeb for more detailed information on these fires. Montana DNRC Kalispell Unit* Fire Name Start Date Acres Cause Status Bear Springs (SW of Little August 11 18.5 Lightning 90% containment Bitterroot Lake in Marion) Meadow Lake 2 (1 mile north of August 14 0.1 Unknown On Patrol Meadow Lake)
Glacier National Park Fire Name Start Acres Cause Status Date Howe Ridge* August 2,600 Lightning Resources on https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6135/ 11 scene Numa Ridge Aug. 11 1.36 Lightning 100% contained *Visit InciWeb for more detailed information on the Glacier National Park fires.
U.S. Department U.S. Department Flathead County State of of Interior of Agriculture Montana Montana Montana Sanders County Montana
National Park Forest County Fire Office of Emergency Department of Montana Fish, Wildlife Service Service Wardens Services Natural Resources and Parks Association and Conservation
Northwest Zone Interagency Fire Coordination Group
Flathead County See evacuations for information on the EVACUATION WARNING issued for some residents in the Essex area due to the Paola Ridge Fire. Lincoln County See evacuations for information on pre-evacuation notices in Lincoln County. Sanders County Follow Sanders County Wildfire Information Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/SCWildlandFireMT/ ) for regular updates on the entire county. 7 pm, Aug. 15 - Fire activity was again light in Sanders County today as the local firefighting agencies continued to work on putting out existing fires and remained on the lookout for new starts. On the Plains-Thompson Falls Ranger District, crews again worked on the Weeksville and Munson fires west of Plains along Highway 200. The 54-acre Weeksville Fire, now considered 95% contained, had only a few smokes showing today in the interior of the fire, and the one-acre Munson Fire was also patrolled with no smokes found. Both fires will be looked at by Plains-Thompson Falls firefighters again tomorrow. All outside resources brought in to help suppress these fires have been released. On CS&KT land north of Hot Springs, the Garden Creek fire, listed at 2,052 acres for the last several days, is mopped up 100 feet in around the perimeter and crews worked at extending 200 feet into the black today. An official with CS&KT Division of Fire said that the Type 3 team managing the fire will be considering the release of further resources working on the fire today. There were 176 personnel still assigned to that fire today and it is listed as 40% contained. The Montana DNRC had no new starts today as four engine crews patrolled the north and south zones of the Plains Unit today, including the 1.1 acre Bold Peak Fire 35 miles north of Plains. The Rampike Fire, burning in the footprint of the 2006 Ulm Peak Fire mainly on the Idaho side of the Idaho-Montana state line on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, is listed at 970 acres. A fire update from the Kootenai National Forest received today said one-half acre has burned on the Montana side and that IPNF and KNF personnel are collaborating on a course of action to suppress the Rampike Fire. Stage II fire restrictions are in place across all jurisdictions in Sanders County. Fire Name Start Acres Cause Status Date Garden Creek Fire (CS&KT) July 29 2052 Lightning 40% Contained, https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6098/ 255 personnel Weeksville Fire, Lolo NF August 54 Escaped 95% contained, 60 https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6127/ 10 house fire personnel
U.S. Department U.S. Department Flathead County State of of Interior of Agriculture Montana Montana Montana Sanders County Montana
National Park Forest County Fire Office of Emergency Department of Montana Fish, Wildlife Service Service Wardens Services Natural Resources and Parks Association and Conservation
Northwest Zone Interagency Fire Coordination Group
Closures Flathead National Forest • Paola Ridge Fire Closures on InciWeb • Coal Ridge Fire Closures on InciWeb Kootenai National Forest • Visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/kootenai for closure information on multiple fires. Glacier National Park • Visit https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/conditions.htm for closure information Air Quality Information An Air Quality Alert remains in effect for Flathead, Glacier, Lincoln, and Sanders Counties for wildfire smoke. At 1030 8/16/18 Air quality is “Unhealthy” in Libby, “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” in Kalispell and Thompson Falls. Smoke continues to impact all of Northwestern Montana. You can check out the air quality for the valley and around the state by visiting the Flathead City-County Health Department website: http://flatheadhealth.org/environmental-health/air-quality/ and http://todaysair.mt.gov
U.S. Department U.S. Department Flathead County State of of Interior of Agriculture Montana Montana Montana Sanders County Montana
National Park Forest County Fire Office of Emergency Department of Montana Fish, Wildlife Service Service Wardens Services Natural Resources and Parks Association and Conservation
Northwest Zone Interagency Fire Coordination Group
Prevention Message Even with Stage II Restrictions in effect, preventable, human-caused fires continue to ignite. Here are some things you can do to prevent them!
Don’t Light Off Fireworks or Explosives!
Target Shooting: Use paper targets placed on dirt or gravel, well away from grass and brush. Don’t shoot with steel core or solid copper ammo. These have the highest potential to start fires. Exploding targets, incendiary ammo and tracer ammo are illegal on public lands.
Avoid dry grass! Use dirt or gravel parking areas, ride only on designated roads and trails, and keep your vehicle free of dragging parts, such as trailer chains, mufflers, and other metal parts that could spark a fire.
Carry a FIRE EXTINGUISHER in your vehicle and learn how to use it. Always carry a shovel and bucket!
U.S. Department U.S. Department Flathead County State of of Interior of Agriculture Montana Montana Montana Sanders County Montana
National Park Forest County Fire Office of Emergency Department of Montana Fish, Wildlife Service Service Wardens Services Natural Resources and Parks Association and Conservation
Northwest Zone Interagency Fire Coordination Group
Media Inquiries For media inquiries related to a specific fire, contact the appropriate agency below:
Flathead National Forest: Janette Turk (406-758-5252) Web: http://www.fs.usda.gov/flathead Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlatheadNF Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discovertheflathead Kootenai National Forest: Shawn Ray-Delmas (406-283-7693) Web: https://www.fs.usda.gov/kootenai Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kootenainf/ MT Department of Natural Resources and Conservation: Ali Ulwelling (406-751-2270 or 406-250-4825) Web: http://dnrc.mt.gov Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MontanaDNRC
Glacier National Park: Lauren Alley (406-888-5838) Web: http://www.nps.gov/glac Facebook: http://facebook.com/GlacierNPS Flathead County Office of Emergency Services: Rick Sacca (406-249-6913) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlatheadOES Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlatheadOES Web: https://flathead.mt.gov/oes/ Sanders County John Hamilton (406-529-5475) Web: http://co.sanders.mt.us/departments/emergency-management/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SCWildlandFireMT/
U.S. Department U.S. Department Flathead County State of of Interior of Agriculture Montana Montana Montana Sanders County Montana
National Park Forest County Fire Office of Emergency Department of Montana Fish, Wildlife Service Service Wardens Services Natural Resources and Parks Association and Conservation