Condon Mountain Fire smoldering

Snow was visible on the sides of mountains ringing the Flathead Valley on Wednesday morning, Oct. 3, but meterologists didn’t expect the weather change would provide the knockout punch to regional fires.

Forest Service officials reported that containment at the Condon Mountain Fire in the Swan Valley increased from 45 percent to 50 percent on Oct. 2, but helicopters continued to make water drops north of Cooney Creek as mop-up crews worked on fire lines between Smith and Cooney creeks.

The Condon Mountain Fire was smoldering despite Red Flag warnings issued on Monday, Oct. 1. Crews continue to hold the lines and mop-up the new hand line between Smith and Cooney creeks.

Located about four miles northeast of Condon and just west of the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the fire increased grew about 1,000 acres from Sept. 19 to Sept. 21 to about 3,333 acres, and containment decreased from 50 percent to 40 percent. By Sept. 25, it had grown to 4,650 acres. By Oct. 2 it had grown to 5,265 acres, but containment increased to 45 percent.

Unusually dry weather this year has extended a wildfire season that began earlier than normal. At least 20 wildfires continued to burn in Montana as of Oct. 2, in addition to 23 in Idaho. The Idaho fires were blamed for much of the smoke that filled the Flathead Valley several weeks ago. This week’s storm was expected to clear the skies of smoke in much of Northwest Montana.

The Condon Mountain Fire is burning in heavy timber, with standing dead whitebark pine, Douglas fir and subalpine fir on steep, hazardous terrain. Private lands are within 1 1/2 miles of the fire. As of Sept. 27, twelve structures were threatened but no evacuations had been ordered. Crews put up fuel treatments and sprinklers for structures closest to the fire between McKay and Cooney creeks.

Shawn Pearson’s Northern Rockies Type II incident management team arrived Sept. 20 to take over firefighting efforts. Fire activity was high that day, with short crown runs, and group and single tree torching throughout the day. Spotting was observed a quarter mile outside the fire’s perimeter.

On Sept. 24, crews used aerial and hand lighting to bring the fire further down the hill between Condon and Smith creeks. Crews also continued to construct a mechanical fuel break from Rumble Creek to Forest Road 905. The closure was extended to include Forest Road 560 because of the heavy equipment. Helicopters continued to drop water on hot spots.

An one-hour aerial ignition took place in the evening on Sept. 20. Firefighting resources on hand by Sept. 28 included four 20-person crews, seven engines, three pieces of heavy equipment, one water tender and four helicopters, totaling 198 people.

By Oct. 1 those numbers had changed to three 20-person crews, one 10-person crew, three engines, one piece of heavy equipment, two water tenders and four helicopters, with 160 people on hand.

The fire came back to life on Sept. 19 when it reportedly began spotting and making runs down into the Smith Creek drainage. The fire was also moving toward Smith Creek Pass and backing down the west face between Condon and Smith creeks. Spectators in Condon could see single tree torching.

Five helicopters and a Super Scooper plane began dropping water on the fire to control its growth, focusing on the west face and Smith Creek. Crews were constructing a fuel break line along Forest Road 9762, the Cooney Mountain Lookout road.

The Cooney Lookout-Foothills Trail No. 192 was closed. Forest Trail 29, the Smith-Little Salmon Lake Trail, has been closed to backcountry travelers for some time now.

Assigned to the fire break work on Sept. 19 were two excavators, a tree harvester, a feller-buncher, four engine crews, a hotshot crew and a 10-person hand crew. Water pumps, hoses and sprinklers were being set up along the fire break. Fire managers so far did not plan a burnout in this area.

The fire managers’ objectives at that time included keeping the fire north of the McKay Creek drainage, south of Dog Creek and east of Forest Roads 9762, 9813 and 10513.

To learn more about evacuations, visit online at www.readyforwildfire.org or www.co.missoula.mt.us/oes. To learn more about the fire, visit online at www.inciweb.org.

Residents can also call the Condon Mountain Fire command at 406-754-0127, the Swan Lake Ranger District office at 406-837-7500, the Swan River State Forest office at 406-754-2301, or the Swan Ecosystem Center at 406-754-3137.

The Condon Mountain Fire started out as the Union Peak Fire. It was first spotted July 30 at half an acre in size about four miles northeast of Condon. The lightning-caused fire simmered for a while before growing rapidly. By Aug. 9, it was burning on 196 acres of steep rocky terrain and moving into the Simpson Creek and Dog Creek drainages.

The fire grew to 283 acres by Aug. 10 as it burned into the Dog Creek drainage. It expanded in the next week and a half to 1,502 acres by Aug. 21 and was 20 percent contained. Crews were trying to use backfires to reduce fuel loading in front of the main fire line.

A little precipitation helped on Aug. 15, and crews took advantage of the wetter conditions to improved containment lines. As of Aug. 15, the fire had not escaped indirect containment lines, including a bank of high rocky cliffs on the fire's east flank.

Crews performed an aerial ignition on the south flank on Thursday, Aug. 16, around 4:30 p.m. The weather was expected to become hotter and drier by the weekend with predicted highs in the low 90s on the valley floor. As a result, fire behavior was expected to return to pre-storm intensities. Fire managers will adjust their strategies as the conditions change.

All told, 137 people were assigned to the fire by Aug. 17, including two helicopters, a helitack module, a helitorch module, six engine crews, a water tender, two 20-person hand crews, one 10-person crew were on hand and a 20-person management team.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks issued an emergency order on Aug. 20 closing Lindbergh Lake to public access while air tankers took water from the lake to fight the fire. The closure was expected to last two days.

By Aug. 28, the Condon Mountain Fire was 50 percent contained and had burned 1,705 acres. A total of 86 people remained on the scene. Two days later, management of the fire was handed over to a Type 4 incident commander. A medium helicopter, a 10-person hand crew and two engines remained on the scene.