As Northwest Fires Rage, Montana Tries to Hold On

As Spokane reels from a weekend firestorm that destroyed more than 600 structures and displaced up to 60,000 people, Montana firefighters are trying to hold ground to keep blazes here from repeating the chaos across the rest of the Northwest.

Fire teams are digging in with hopes of getting anchor points established about the Skillet Fire, burning west of Whitefish in the Tally Lake area.

This weekend's fire weather caused widespread growth of the blaze that started last week, with last night's acreage at nearly 2500 acres.

The fire is burning in the area of previous fires, but Operations Section Chief Chad Olsen says that's also presenting some challenges around the northern perimeter of the fire.

"A lot of blowdown from an event that happened a year or 2 ago," Olsen explained. "So big, not just small trees and brush, but big giant trees, so as far as getting crews in there, hand crews, saws, all that stuff. It's nearly impossible. But the good news is we have options with heavy equipment, perhaps."

Olson says fire crews are working to build anchor points around the southern and eastern edges of the fire to keep it moving north.

      Residents of the Good Creek and Alder Creek areas were ordered to evacuate over the weekend.

Elder Fire 1; USFS

Progress on the Elder 1 Fire

There's good news to report on that dangerous Elder 1 fire burning in the Lolo National Forest south of Missoula.

Operations Section Chief Justin Kaber says Saturday's wind event didn't hit the fire as hard as forecast, keeping the fire just over 1200 acres, allowing fire crews to get some containment on the lightning-caused fire.

"Expect that to continue climbing throughout the day and the next couple of days as firefighters grab the upper hand and continue to mop up around the edges," Kaber said in his latest update.

Kaber says the fire has brought a lot of hard work for the Helena Hot Shot crew, who've had to climb over two steep ridge lines every day to reach the fire's front.

      We also note that containment was up to 40% Sunday night.

Other fires under attack

In other Montana fire updates…

Two additional fires started in the Sapphire Mountains Saturday, but a quick response was curtailing growth on the Butterfly and Black Bear Fires.

Crews are still working to get some containment on the Moose Fire west of Philipsburg, the Bobcat Lakes and the Sand Creek fires in the West Pioneers, which have burned up to 1000 acres.

The Ant Park Fire, burning in Meagher County, is now just over 300 acres, with crews working to protect about 16 structures in the immediate area.

The Middle Coulee Fire, burning near Floweree in Choteau County, grew to 500 acres after it started Saturday, but the Fort Benton Volunteer Fire Department was reporting they had it contained by yesterday evening.

Air quality hits worst levels

While temperatures soared on Saturday, Helena breaking a previous record and hitting 103 degrees, and Great Falls topping out at 104, above the days' record of 101, those being just two examples, the passing cold front cooled most areas my as much as 20-degrees Sunday.

      That was a welcome relief, but as the winds calmed, it also allowed more fire smoke to pour in from the west.

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Yesterday, Great Falls meteorologist Erik Johnson was reporting most of the northern tier of the state had unhealthy air quality from Libby east through Havre, hitting the "purple" range, which is the highest warning level.

As higher pressure rebuilds this week, smoke and air quality problems are expected to worsen, especially with the fire activity in Eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and B.C.