Above: The Lodgepole Complex of fires. Uncredited photo posted to Inciweb July 23, 2017.
(Originally published at 9:20 a.m. MDT July 26, 2017)
Firefighters continue to make progress on the Lodgepole Complex of fires in Eastern Montana south of Lake Fort Peck. More accurate mapping shows that the fire has burned a total of 270,000 acres on the four fires, Bridge Coulee, Barker, South Breaks, and Square Butte.
Early Wednesday morning the only large concentrations of intense heat detected by an aircraft were on the north side adjacent to Lake Fort Peck, but a lot of the fire perimeter still does not have completed fireline.
Map of the Lodgepole Complex of fires. The red line was the perimeter at 2:30 a.m. MDT July 26, 2017. The white line was the estimated perimeter two days before.
Firefighters have been conducting burnout operations to secure the lines and in some locations have increased the depth along the containment lines by one quarter mile.
The weather on Wednesday is predicted to be warmer and drier with gusty winds out of the south.
(All articles on Wildfire Today about the Lodgepole Fire in Montana are tagged, and can be found at https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/lodgepole-complex/, with the most recent articles at the top.)
The Mariposa County Sheriff’s office announced that three people have been arrested for stealing firefighting equipment on the Detwiler Fire, an 80,000-acre fire between Mariposa and Coulterville, California.
This is one of the more despicable crimes. Congratulations to the Sheriff’s office for making the arrests.
Here is an excerpt from their press release issued July 24, 2017.
All articles about the Detwiler Fire on Wildfire Today can be found here, with the most recent being at the top.
Three areas have issued Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisories that are currently in effect. The advisories are valid for 14 days from the date of issuance.
The documents do not indicate which person, group, or office came up with the information. One of them has the “Predictive Services” logo, but there are many such offices with multiple employees. The others provide no clue how, where, or by whom they originated.
It has been our position that a technical document that relies on scientific data and expertise gained through years of experience, and which recommends specific action be taken, should be signed. Someone needs to have their name(s) attached. Was it put together by an intern, or someone with 35 years of experience? Be brave and convince us that we should take the advice to take action seriously.
Below are screen grabs of the top sections of each document. The entire documents can be seen here: Great Basin, part of the Northern Rockies Geographic Area, and Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon.
To see larger versions of the images below, widen your browser, hold your mobile device horizontally, or click on the images.
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Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Jim. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
(Originally published at 12:53 p.m. MDT July 25, 2017)
(Updated at 4:52 p.m. MDT July 25, 2017)
There was a fatality at a fire in Fairburn, South Dakota Monday morning when a civilian died near one of two burned structures. Jim Strain, Assistant Chief of the Fairburn Volunteer Fire Department who was Incident Commander on the fire, said one of the structures, a single-family residence, was occupied and the other, a two-story house, was vacant.
No other information was available about the fatality as of 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
After the fire started around 10 a.m. calls were received in several fire departments in the area saying multiple structures were burning in Fairburn and it was spotting into the grass — send everything you can.
At around 11:30 a.m. firefighters had the one acre of vegetation and the structure fires knocked down with the help of a single engine air tanker. Since there is no high-volume water source in the small town so water tenders were driving miles to refill.
Chief Strain said there was a great interagency effort from three counties, state, and federal agencies.
Above: Wildfires in Western Montana, July 25, 2017.
(Originally published at 10:30 a.m. MDT July 25, 2017)
Residents of Missoula, Montana are used to the impacts wildfire season brings to the area. Occasionally the area is inundated with smoke for days or weeks at a time. Today at least a dozen large wildfires are burning within 70 miles of Missoula. Most of them are south or east of the city so the northwest wind predicted today will blow much of the smoke from the fires away from town.
Photo from a camera at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, showing some smoky haze in the air at 8:45 a.m. PDT July 25, 2017.
The national Incident Management Situation Report groups fires by Geographic Area and lists those Areas by priority, and within each Area the fires are listed by priority. The Northern Rockies Geographic Area, identified as the highest priority today, is comprised of Northern Idaho, all of Montana, most of North Dakota, and relatively small portions of Wyoming and South Dakota.
The 12 highest priority fires in the Northern Rockies Geographic Area, July 25, 2017. “Ctn” means it is a full suppression fire. “Comp” is less than full suppression.
Today’s report lists 21 large fires in the Northern Rockies with 18 of them being in Montana. The first 10 priorities are in Montana and 8 of them are in the western part of the state.
The two that are in the eastern part are the top two priorities in the Area:
Lodgepole Complex of Fires: 250,000 acres, 16 homes have been destroyed. Firefighters are making good progress. Over the last 48 hours the only large growth has been on the northern end near Lake Fort Peck. More information.
Buffalo Fire: This is a new fire reported July 24. At last report it had burned 2,000 acres and is near the Wyoming/Montana state line. An Incident Management Team from Alaska that was staged in the state has been assigned.
Fires in Eastern Montana, July 25, 2017.The north portion of the Lodgepole Complex of fires. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:52 a.m. PDT July 25, 2017. The red line was the fire perimeter at 9 p.m. MDT July 23, 2017.
Below is some information about a couple of fires closer to Missoula:
Lolo Peak Fire; 1,090 acres 17 miles southwest of Missoula and 10 miles southwest of Lolo. It was active Monday and Monday night on the north, west, and south sides, spotting across a drainage and advancing to Lantern Ridge.
Sapphire Complex comprised of Sliderock, Little Hogback, and Goat Creek fires: 20 to 31 miles southeast of Missoula. All three fires were active Monday, primarily on the east and southeast sides. Combined they have burned 4,539 acres.
An executive order signed by the Governor of Montana Sunday will enable the state to mobilize National Guard helicopters (Blackhawks and CH47), some firefighters, and kitchens. It also makes it possible for local governments to access the Governor’s emergency fund if they have enacted their own 2 mil levy.
Above: Wildfire smoke, at 7:22 a.m. MDT July 25, 2017.
(Originally published at 7:45 a.m. MDT July 25, 2017)
Smoke from wildfires is affecting most of Canada, the Great Lakes area, and the central and north-central United States.
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings or Fire Weather Watches on Tuesday for areas in Montana, California, Oregon and Nebraska.
The map was current as of 7:40 a.m. MDT on Tuesday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts.
