Fire That Burned 3 Homes in Paradise Valley Gets Help From Weather

By Courtney Lowery, 7-31-06

	Caption: The Big Creek fire is burning south of Livingston and Bozeman. For help locating Montana's wildfires, see the MODIS Active Fire Detection maps.

UPDATE: The Big Creek Fire, like other fires in the state, got respite Monday with lower temperatures after it got shoved around Sunday in high heat and strong winds, burning six buildings, three of them homes.

The fire, which started on private land Saturday about 30 miles southwest of Livingston near Emigrant was at about 10,000 acres still on Tuesday morning's reports. Monday kept the fire confined to only small runs and individual tree torchings, rather than the big runs -- filled with torching, spotting and crowning -- the fire put up over the weekend. Several reports showed nine buildings burned, but fire information officer Marilyn Krause said only six have been confirmed and crews did not have a total assessment yet.

Some homes near the South Glasbury subdivisions have been evacuated and about 50 others have been put on evacuation warning, Krause said. Crews will focus Tuesday on securing and completing bulldozer lines along the fire's southern border between the blaze and the homes.

The fire is moving the opposite direction, though, toward the north and northwest. By Monday morning, the fire had burned into an old burn area on the north side where the Fridley Fire burned in 2001. That will mean less fuels for the that side of the fire to burn through. "That will help a little," Krause said.

Firefighters were headed up to the north side of the fire Monday to get a look at where lines should go and where exactly the fire was And, the two heavy helicopters were above, dropping water on that side of the fire. There are no homes on the north side.

From Bozeman, the smoke plume looks like it could be up a draw in Hyalite Canyon but Krause said there's no immediate danger of the fire moving over the divide on the Bozeman side. The Hyalite Canyon is rocky and relatively fuel free.

The fire is burning at the closest point, about two miles from Highway 89, the popular route into Yellowstone National Park.

As of Monday morning, there were 120 people working on the fire with the help of 25 engines and at least three helicopters. More resources were on their way into the fire Monday, Krause said. A Type II team took over management of the fire this morning at 7 a.m.

Meanwhile the South Pine fire, burning about 13 miles south of Livingston burned into the Absaorka-Beartooth Wilderness over the weekend, hitting the rocky, fuel-free ridge line above South Pine Creek. It is 40 percent contained and while crews were focusing on keeping containment lines on the other side, helicopters were able to drop water on the hot spots on the west and northwest portions of the fire. No buildings are threatened in the the fire and it showed some spread, but limited growth Sunday.

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