New Fire Near Evaro Calms, Active Fire Expected

By Greg Lemon, 8-14-07

	Caption: Slurry bombers taking off from Missoula International Airport just a few miles away were able to drop a steady supply of retardant on the Black Cat fire Tuesday afternoon. Photos: Chris Lombardi for New West.

Updated 10:00 p.m.The Black Cat fire near Evaro, north of Missoula and west of Highway 93, has calmed down some tonight, but is still actively burning on the ground, said Paula Rosenthal, Montana Department of Natural Resources fire information officer.

The fire, which has been sized at 280 acres, led to evacuations of more than 20 residences west of Highway 93 from mile marker 3 to about half way between mile markers 6 and 7. The fire is still more than a mile from the nearest homes, but with the dry conditions and stubborn nature of the blaze, safety of the residents is a priority, said Paula Rosenthal, the DNRC fire information officer on the scene Tuesday evening.

The fire is 0 percent contained. However, residents on Bear Grass Road were allowed to return to their home Tuesday evening, Rosenthal said. Highway 93 is open to north and south traffic.

The fire is under DNRC jurisdiction and it started about five miles east of Frenchtown Pond, said Lolo National Forest spokesman Boyd Hartwig.

The fire was reported about 2:15 in the afternoon and was immediately responded to by aerial and ground resources from around the area, including engines and personnel from Frenchtown, Victor and Florence volunteer fire departments, Missoula Rural fire department, Lolo National Forest and DNRC. Three helicopters and one air tanker were also working the fire. Despite the effort, the fire continued to be erratic and active into the evening, Rosenthal said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Wednesday, a Type II incident command team is expected to take over control of the fire. About 50 personnel are working the fire and crews look for more erratic fire behavior tomorrow due to extremely dry conditions and steep terrain, she said. Since the fire has been threatening structures, crews were able to pull resources in from other area fires. Rosenthal expects that to continue tomorrow during the heat of the day when fire behavior is expected to be very active.

Fire officials are also keeping an eye on the expected weather changes Thursday. The National Weather Service is forecasting a front passing over western Montana, which could bring severe thunderstorms.

We’ll update this story as we get more information. Check back at www.newwest.net/missoula.