Multiple fires burning near the Hungry Horse Reservoir

Hungry Horse News

Multiple fires were burning near the Hungry Horse Reservoir as of presstime.

A dry lightning storm overnight between July 29 and July 30 caused an increase in fire starts on the Flathead National Forest. All told, 17 fires have been reported since the lightning storm and firefighters are investigating smoke reports and conducting initial attack.

The largest new fires are the Kah Mountain and Bruce fires on the Spotted Bear Ranger District on the west side of the reservoir. These two are being combined with two smaller starts into the Tin Soldier Complex. Firefighting crews were responding with initial attack and a Type 3 Incident Management Team has been ordered to take command of the Tin Soldier Complex, estimated at 80-100 acres.

The Spotted Bear Ranger District has seven reported fires at this time. Alcove and Stadium Creek Fires are in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. The 0.5-acre Elam Fire is along the West Side Road on the Hungry Horse Reservoir and firefighters have constructed containment lines around the perimeter.

The Hungry Horse-Glacier View Ranger District has nine reported fires, one of which is in controlled and two are now contained.

The largest fire on the district is the Ridge Fire above Emery Bay on the east side of the reservoir.

The Ridge Fire is estimated at 20-30 acres, actively backing down towards Emery drainage in mature timber with high quantities of both dead and down trees and standing dead snags. Heavy equipment has been ordered to support firefighting efforts, the Forest Service noted in a release.

The fire was pouring smoke into the skies above Hungry Horse.

The Doris Point Fire is estimated at a half acre and is burning on 80-90% slope in thick timber and vegetation with prevalent large-diameter dead trees.  Fire personnel were able to approach the fire on Sunday but the risk to firefighter safety is very high due to the fire’s location.

As the Hungry Horse News went to press, there were no closures on the Forest due to the fires, but that could change rapidly.

Crews were working to extinguish a few small fires in Glacier National Park Monday.

Spokeswoman Gina Icenoggle said the fires are all less than a tenth of an acre.

There was a small fire in the Kishenehn drainage up the North Fork. Firefighters reached the fire on foot late last night, got a line around it and camped at it to make sure it didn’t spread. It’s considered contained.

On Numa Peak a small fire was burning midslope relatively close to the trail. A small group of firefighters were going in on foot Monday to put it out. Glacier has closed the trail to Numa Peak Lookout as a precaution. A helicopter was also dumping water on the fire.

The fire is called the North Bowman Fire.

Then on McDonald Creek there was a small fire in the bottom of the valley between Packer’s Roost and Mineral Creek, within the 2003 burn. The fire was close to the trail and a small group of firefighters were going in on foot Monday to put it out. It was out Tuesday morning.

The larger fires are south of here.

A wildfire west of Elmo raced across Montana 28 on Sunday, leaving a scorched swath of 5,000 acres in its wake.

The Niarada Fire was fanned to the northeast by gusty winds Sunday evening that reached 35 mph. Its perimeter on Monday morning extended from south of the highway, across Niarada Lane to Browns Meadow Road to the north. The fire’s west flank hugs the Flathead and Sanders county line.

The fast-moving fire caused the closure of Montana 28 on Sunday afternoon. The highway remained closed between mile markers 16.3 and 46.72.

Smokejumpers, ground crews and equipment were working to control the fire with air support, according to a Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Division of Fire update Monday morning.

The Niarada Fire was one of many to crop up following a dry lightning storm on Saturday.

Sunday also saw thunderstorms as well, so more could crop quickly.

There could be relief by the weekend, with cooler and wetter weather expected Saturday.