Stage 1 fire restrictions go into effect
A fire on the south side of Big Mountain and another in Marion drove home the point of the Flathead County Commissioners in imposing Stage 1 fire restrictions on private property in Flathead County.
Firefighters responded Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 6, to a fire apparently started by logging equipment below the Elk Highlands development and below the Whitefish Mountain Resort ski area.
Firefighters from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Flathead National Forest, Whitefish Fire Department and Big Mountain Fire Department responded to the fire. Fire crews staged equipment at Hellroaring Creek on East Lakeshore Drive.
Three helicopters dropped buckets of water from nearby Whitefish Lake on the fire, and two single-engine air tankers from Ronan dumped retardant on the small blaze. By 6 p.m., the fire was estimated at a quarter of an acre and smoking heavily. Bulldozers were used to put a line around the fire.
DNRC crews and the Marion Fire Department responded to a new fire the same day along a road in the Bear Springs area between Lost Prairie and Little Bitterroot Lake. Because of the fire's proximity to the road, there is speculation it may have been one of several recent fires caused by people.
As fire crews battled the two fires - both likely human-caused - and facing persistent hot and dry conditions that continued to fuel fires, the Flathead County Commissioners approved Stage 1 fire restrictions on Sept. 6.
The restrictions ban fireworks, require that campfires have a fire ring no larger than three feet in diameter and limits smoking to buildings, vehicles or areas that are cleared of vegetation.
"It's just we've been so dry in the valley for so long," said Lincoln Chute, fire service manager for the county's Office of Emergency Services. "About 80 or 90 percent of our grass areas are cured out. We're just concerned that if something gets away, it could get pretty ugly. It's not so much the restrictions, but more of a wake-up call to the public."
Chute noted that several illegal fires occurred over the Labor Day weekend. Firefighters responded to several debris burns, including a slash pile that was 12 feet in diameter and 8 feet high.
"Hopefully, people will be vigilant, and we can get through without any incidents in the valley," Chute said.
Meanwhile in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, hot and dry weather last week spurred on two fires that have been burning deep in the wilderness for more than a month. The Big Salmon Lake Fire was estimated at 4,300 acres and the Hammer Creek Fire at 5,500 acres.
The South Fork Lost Creek Fire, burning seven miles southeast of Swan Lake, also picked up last week, but activity was mostly within the fire's 1,710-acre perimeter.