Wildfire

From the Front Lines of the I-90 Fire

By Scott Poniewaz, 8-10-05

	A member of the Helena Regulars fire crew prepares to put out a hot spot following a brief flare up on the west side of the West Mountain fire.

The Tarkio fire, on the west side of the I-90 Complex near Alberton, gained some momentum yesterday after spotting occurred across Nemote Creek. The fire is moving into logging slash, which could mean a quick advancement to the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) power lines.

Update: According to Fire Information Officer Pat Cross, at approximately 4:20 this afternoon, the Tarkio fire pushed over containment lines on the north and east ends into a steep and grassy area and has been moving quickly. They hope to catch the fire again once the winds die down, Cross said.

It is moving quickly toward the BPA's power lines and Cross estimated it would reach the lines in two hours at the rate it was going this afternoon. They began dropping retardant from air tankers and helicopters in an effort to protect the lines and towers. At this point, Cross said they needed to "keep the heat down and make sure the power lines and towers are kept safe." The large plume of smoke looming over the north end of the West Mountain fires was from the Tarkio fire, which was spotting a quarter to a half mile ahead of the main blaze. This was forcing crews to pull off parts of the West Mountain blaze due to the spotting and heavy smoke. "At this point we still need to figure out what the fires have done," Cross said. Last he had heard, crews were going to be camping out tonight to get an early start in the morning.

"We're sending our night crews out soon. Hopefully they will be able to recover some of the fire as soon as things die down a little later tonight,' added Cross.

Information Officer Trish Hogevorst says the fire was beginning to run into the slash Wednesday and crews were trying to get after it before it advanced too far. They were also trying to re-secure their fire lines after the spotting. This fire is the most difficult one to control at this point and, while it is still three miles from the power lines, it could advance quickly, making it more threatening than the West Mountain Fire. Crews have been controlling that fire well to this point and have stayed about three quarters of a mile inside containment lines for the past couple days.

On the West Mountain fire last night, three hot shot crews camped out again on the northern side to begin work early this morning with hopes of pinching the fire before the expected afternoon winds would pick up again this afternoon.

The 4,700 acre fire complex remains 40 percent contained today and has been bumped up to 896 personnel. The past two days have seen increases in costs, due to the necessity for aircraft, both helicopters and an air tanker. Yesterday alone, the cost jumped from $1.92 million to $2.8 million.

Although the crews are expecting afternoon winds similar to yesterday’s, they have not issued a red-flag warning for today. The air tanker still remains dedicated to the fires, in the event that the fires make a run to the power lines, so they can dump retardant in the area of the power lines.

After my time on the line on the north side of the West Mountain fire yesterday afternoon with the Lolo Hot Shots, things seemed like they were under control, though there was a small flare up that poured over the ridge a little bit. The fires were rather spotty in the area with undergrowth still present, but both the Lolo Hot Shots and the Helena Reds were working into the evening doing mop-up and re-securing their fire and dozer lines.

The houses I saw yesterday morning that were threatened on the west side of the Tarkio fire are pretty safe unless the fire moves off course quite a bit. Properties on the east side of the West Mountain fire are actually being used as safety zones and after talking with Information Officer Justin Dombrowski yesterday and the day before it seems the risk is pretty much gone -- meaning if fires were to come, their chances of survival would be pretty high.

On a lighter note, the Tarkio river access has been reopened, so get those kayaks back out.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.