Articles Tagged With: Wildland Fire
UPDATE: Crews worked overnight to protect homes and get a hold on the Woodchuck Fire near Florence, south of Missoula, which raced to 500 acres Tuesday, destroying one home and threatening at least 24 others.
Fire information officer Jamie Kirby said crews were able to get some line dug around the fire overnight with the help of one bulldozer operator, who was joined by two others this morning.
Fire officials with the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation confimed late Tuesday that at least one home burned as the fire moved south and east into Woodchuck Canyon in Missoula County about six miles east of Florence and one mile from Woodchuck Pond. One home along the 8-Mile Road and 23 others in the Upper Woodchuck residential area are threatened and Kirby said at least a dozen homes had been evacuated.
Cool, relatively wet weather Monday held down the Rockin' Fire burning near Lake Como in the Bitterroot National Forest, but crews were expecting some action Tuesday as temperatures increase and humidity drops.
The fire was still mapped at 3,500 acres Tuesday with officials waiting for a new count. It is not threatening any structures.
The Helena Hot Shots are planning to work Tuesday on securing lines along the Rock Creek Trail west of the lake to keep the fire from jumping into the Rock Creek drainage south of the fire. Meanwhile, helicopters are getting in to do water drops on the east flank of the fires.
A Type II Incident Command team is now in place. In a release Tuesday morning, commander Stan Benes said, “Our strategy on this fire is to confine and contain. We want to be able to use our resources where it is safe and feasible to contain the fire.�
So far, there are about 50 people on the fire and two helicopters on hand.
