Evacuation warning issued for area near Essex

Officials issued an evacuation warning to a small number of residents near Essex at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday due to continued growth on the 370-acre Paola Ridge Fire in the community’s vicinity.

Deputies from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office began notifying affected residents directly. Area under this evacuation warning spans from mile marker 176 to mile marker 179, including Branch Road, Bugling Elk Trail, Dickey Creek Loop, Eagle Haunts Run and Lazy Moose Trail.

The evacuation warning and map can be found at https://www.facebook.com/330684970393201/posts/1644607642334254/.

Future updates to this information can be found at the Flathead County Office of Emergency Services Facebook page.

A crew of around 40 firefighters continued work on a fireline with miscellaneous heavy equipment implementing a fuel break on the northern edges near the railroad and Highway 2.

Officials continued their assessment of structure protection needs and prepared to install pumps, water hoses and sprinklers.

Weather forecasts predicted higher temperatures with lower relative humidity, with a potential for thunderstorms on Friday.

An area closure order also remained in place, closing the area and local roads and trails, though local landowner traffic is permitted. Highway 2 was not affected by the area closure.

Activity slowed on the Howe Ridge Fire consuming the northwest shore of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, adding around 100 acres to the blaze Tuesday.

Low visibility under smoky skies prevented the Canadian super scoopers from making any headway on the fire Tuesday, but Type 1 helicopters continued bucket drops throughout the day, cooling spot fires near Stanton Mountain and slowing growth.

Around 80 total firefighters were assigned to the fire.

Point protection remained around the remaining structures in Kelly’s Camp through Tuesday night and into Wednesday.

A Type 1 team arrived Wednesday from the southwest for debriefing and will assume control of the fire, totalling 2,600 acres, later in the week.

Apgar area residents were reminded of Ready, Set, Go!, a program that identifies the different stages of evacuation preparedness in the case of a wildfire.

Ready encourages preparedness understanding, Set indicates a need for situational awareness when fire threatens and Go sets the plan into action when needed.

The Apgar area entered “Ready” status, which entails creating defensible space around structures, assembling emergency supplies and belongings in a safe place, planning escape routes and making sure all residents in a home know the plan.

Farther west in the Kootenai National Forest, the two main fires comprising the Sterling Complex burning around 20 miles southwest of Eureka totalled around 900 acres Wednesday.

Crews worked to implement containment lines around a spot fire found south of Pinkham Tower, which brought the Pinkham Tower Fire to a total of around 600 acres.

The neighboring Huckleberry Fire reached 300 acres as fire personnel worked to establish a hand line on the southern edge.

A Type 2 team and around 280 firefighters worked both fires.

A pre-evacuation notice remained in effect for residents of Edna Creek Road, Sutton Ridge Road and Swamp Creek Road. Residents living within the fire area were placed in the Set stage.

Firefighters continued their efforts on the adjacent Ten Mile Fire, holding on to 70 percent containment for a total of around 680 acres.

The Davis Fire held at around 5,600 acres and 5 percent containment on Wednesday.

Down in the Spotted Bear Ranger District, the Brownstone Fire slowed its spread, adding around 100 acres on Wednesday for a total of 1,700 acres.

Widespread haze kept the air quality in the Flathead Valley and surrounding areas at unhealthy for sensative groups, with Libby reported as unhealthy. Most of the rest of the state remained at moderate air quality.