Fires on the Kootenai

The IMT will have an information booth at the Lincoln County Fair, Aug 28-30.
Community Update Meeting Suday, Aug 30, 7:00pm at the Trego Civic Center.

As of Thursday, August 20, our area is under Stage 2 fire restrictions: go to MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks for specifics.

Weather conditions across the Pacific Northwest, very hot and dry, have created a situation that is resulting in a lot of fires here and across the northwest. July was the hottest month on Earth since records began, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The conditions are "unprecedented for the northern Rockies....we had half the precipitation normal for June and July this year. It's dry....leaves and plants are dying back and drying up like they normally do in the fall. This is providing fuel for fires," said Steve Munson, fire behavior analyst for the Northern Rockies Type II Incident Management Team (IMT) that has been assigned to the Northeast Kootenai Fire Complex.(Click on that for fire updates)

On Sunday, August 16, Governor Bullock declared Montana a Wildfire State of Emergency. This declaration allows use of the National Guard for fighting fires as well as access to state emergency funds.

The IMT (Incident Management Team), with the Forest Service, are holding periodic community update meetings at the Trego Civic Center. Chris Savage, Kootenai Forest Supervisor, reported at the August 16 meeting that there had been 51 fires so far on Kootenai National Forest totaling 2800 acres. They are working hard to control them with firefighters on the job around the clock, patrolling, monitoring, and fighting the fires. Fires started by lightening strikes during storms over the last week are still popping up as conditions become warmer. Fortunately, the rain and cooling temperatures in the past few days have helped to temper down existing fires.

The number of fires in the Pacific Northwest is so great that there is a strain on the availability of resources (crews, equipment - especially aircraft). All of the Pacific Northwest this year is maxed out with outstanding requests for Incident Management Teams (IMT). At the Trego meeting Incident Commander, Shawn Pearson, noted that priority is given to areas where homes are threatened or have burnt. Also that there are areas requesting IMT's who have to wait because the teams are not available. We “were bumped up on the list” when the Marston Fire showed potential to threaten private homes.

In general, all of the local wildfires are initially found and attacked by local Forest Service crews. When it is obvious that outside assistance is required, an Incident Management Team (IMT) is called in. They are teams of professionals who bring their expertise to analyze fires, set plans of attack, and organize and take care of the needs of the folks fighting the fires. They work closely with local Forest Service personnel...all share information and work together to provide the best service in fighting fires. Five fires on the Kootenai have been turned over to the IMT, leaving over 20 on Fortine and Rexford Districts, at this writing, under the care of the Kootenai National Forest.

Specific information about the fires under the management of the local Ranger Districts, and their locations and status, is available at: Murphy Lake Ranger Station, 406-882-4451 and Eureka Ranger Station, 406-296-2536. They can also suggest actions that will help make your property more fire-safe. More information about fires on the Kootenai Forest is available at: www.fs.usda.gov/kootenai.

The Northeast Kootenai Fire Complex consists of five fires: Marston, Barnaby Mountain, Sunday Creek, Weigel, and Dunn. For updates and information about these fires go to: the inciweb website. Their Incident Control Center is located in Murphy Lake Ranger Station: 406-882-8308; email: .

Presently, NO EVACUATIONS ARE CURRENTLY IN EFFECT FOR ANY OF THESE FIRES. The Marston fire is of most concern to us because of its proximity to private land and homes. The IMT is closely monitoring the fire's movement. They have identified all homes that could potentially be threatened and will immediately work with local law enforcement to evacuate the area if needed. They will go to all identified homes and, time permitting, will call you (this is called “reverse 911”). If you have only a cell phone, go to: www.lincolncountymt.us to get your cell phone number in the system. Libby's Western Star newspaper published a very informative article on August 14 about “CodeRED notification system.”

This is a year that is potentially severe for fires and is certainly one in which we all need to take care and precautions to avoid starting forest fires. Please, adhere to the fire restrictions, be ever so careful in our super-dry land this year, and be sure to thank the fire-fighters and Forest Service when you run into them. They're doing it for the land....and they're doing it for you.