By Michael Howell
After moving slowly down and across the mountain for days, the Lolo Peak Fire got a big boost from some strong winds last Wednesday and suddenly went on a run that scorched across 9,000 acres in a 24-hour period on Thursday and Friday. According to Fire Information Officer Mike Cole, he and others had not seen a fire race across the landscape that fast since the I-90 fire near Columbus, Montana in 2006.
“People see smoke billowing from a fire but they don’t see how fast it is really moving on the ground,” said Cole.
The pyrotechnic display Thursday and Friday night was spectacular and the burst of fire activity led to evacuation orders along Highway 12 and west of Highway 93. It was all hands on deck for a couple of days as fire crews fought the blaze on the ground day and night. During the day the air attack was relentless with helicopters and airplanes dropping retardant out ahead of the flames to dampen the fire’s force as it moved through. Fire analysts attribute heavy retardant drops in the Travelers’ Rest area as the key factor in stalling out the run at that point. Large air tankers, including one of the largest in the world, called a VLAT, painted the ridges with fire retardant to prevent the fire from crossing to adjacent drainages. They painted retardant lines across the slope in front of the fire to slow its movement and lessen its intensity.
Cole said the large tanker, which is a converted DC-10 passenger plane, can carry up to 11,500 gallons of water. They are too large to use a normal length of runway. This one flies out of Helena. They also have to be loaded with water on the tarmac. This one is filled up on the ground in Helena. According to Cole, the tanker is so large that its very size serves as a limitation on what it can do at a fire.
“They can’t fly into steep and narrow canyons like the smaller planes and the helicopters,” he said. The smaller planes are much more maneuverable, but the large one can carry a huge load and cover a lot of ground.
“It’s another tool in the tool box,” said Cole.
Burn-outs were also used to try and diminish the fire’s intensity by consuming fuel in advance of the fire. Although fire management personnel all agree that the use of burn-outs can go awry as it did up Folsom Creek drainage where two homes and several outbuildings were burned down, they also agree that the successful ones used on this fire have arguably saved hundreds of others.
Cole said that the fortunate thing about the fire’s run eastward across the mountain is that, at the time, it was sitting on the mountainside just above the homes on the south side of Highway 12 and was coming downhill.
The strong winds coming down canyon from west to east, however, blew the fire so strongly that it raced eastward across the face of the mountain staying above the residences down below. Highway 12 was temporarily closed but has since been re-opened with a pilot car to escort traffic. Some spotting occurred across the containment line but was extinguished.
By Saturday, the harsh winds had subsided and the fire had slowed down and began moving downhill towards Highway 12 again and toward the junction of Highway 12 and Highway 93 at Lolo. With little to no spotting the fire approached the containment line in places but the lines held. Some successful burn-outs were conducted up Carlton Creek and on the northeast corner of the fire along Highway 12.
“As long as it’s backing down the hill we are OK,” said Cole.
He said they are watching things closely by using infrared cameras at night. The planes, equipped with infrared instruments and flying out of Boise and Salt Lake City, take night pictures of fires across the west. They fly over the Lolo Peak Fire every night around midnight and the information is used to plan the next day’s activities.
Cole said that air tankers and helicopters were important tools for fighting forest fires but they can be put out of action by the illegal use of drones in the area of a fire. This happened on the Lolo Peak Fire on Friday. Cole said that a resident who had refused to leave his home called on Friday evening and said he heard a drone flying in the area.
“We notified air operations and they immediately shut down,” said Cole. “It was late. It was really smoky and it was getting dark, but I can tell you for sure that we were not ready to shut down at that time.” He said flying drones in the area of forest fire is illegal and presents a real danger to planes. He said the incident was still under investigation.
On Sunday evening, Fire Analyst Stewart Turner told an audience of about 260 at a public meeting in Florence that the mild fire weather enjoyed on Saturday and Sunday would probably continue through Tuesday. The mild weather is related to a high pressure system that is currently sitting over the valley. He said it would generate some up-slope winds but will keep the smoke hugging the valley floor. The positive side of that is that the smoke dampens fire activity.
But this is predicted to change on Wednesday and bring on another big fire weather day with strong winds and low humidity. It will be accompanied by dry thunderstorms in the late afternoons on Wednesday and Thursday.
What this means, according to Turner, is that there will be a few good work days to prepare for another surge.
According to Cole, most of the acreage involved in the fire is now black, but lots of fuel remains in those areas and fire may easily start up again. Nonetheless, a few evacuation areas along Highway 12 and Highway 93 saw their status downgraded to a warning.
As Lieutenant Jace Dicken of the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office put it, “I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news. Some people are going to get to go home. Some people are not.” Starting at 10 a.m. Monday, he said, Highway 12 re-opened from the intersection with Highway 93 in Lolo to the Mile Marker 27 on Highway 12. He said beyond Mile Marker 27 there was still some active fire burning in the area. The highway itself remains open but traffic must be escorted by a pilot car and no stopping is allowed. One exception in the area to the lifting of the evacuation order is Balsam Root Drive which remains closed.
Along Highway 93 south to Sun Valley Road the evacuation order was also reduced to a warning. Old highway 93 is closed to all traffic, except emergency vehicles, from Tie Chute Lane north. Resident passes are available for those people who live between the Old 93 and New 93 Highways. Contact the Missoula or Ravalli County Sheriffs’ office for details.
Staffed fire information is available at two locations: The Farmers State Bank parking lot at 5501 Old Highway 93 North in Florence; and the Firewise Trailer, located at the weigh station in Lolo at the corner of Highways 12 and 93. The Red Cross shelter at the University Congregation Church located at 405 University Avenue in Missoula remains open. For animal sheltering call Animal Control at 541-7387 and leave a message.
Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton said that his main message for people in these areas where evacuation orders are being downgraded to a warning was not to get complacent because things can turn around quickly in a large fire like this. Holton said that the arrival of over 150 National Guard troops to man the guard posts at closed roads was a big relief for the local law enforcement and allowed them to do other things such as escorting people back to their homes.
Fire analyst Turner said that his models did not show the fire moving into Lolo proper. He said his models show a movement of the fire to the south. If nothing was done to counter it, he said, the models show the fire moving through Tie Chute and into One Horse drainage by Wednesday at which time it would jump from moving 3 to 4 feet daily to moving up to half a mile in one day on Wednesday when the winds pick up. It is up to the fire fighters to change that scenario if they can.
Fire official Mike Goicoechea said, counting the influx of 150 National Guard troops, there were 1,200 people fighting the fire as of Sunday. The lightning-caused Lolo Peak Fire started in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness on July 15 and as of Monday had burned over 31,459 acres and was estimated to be 7% contained. The cost to fight this fire so far is estimated at $27.7 million. There have been three injuries to date, including one fatality.
Two homes have been destroyed as well as eight minor structures. 774 structures remain threatened.
The Florence Civic Club has activated its Community Emergency Fund (CEF). This Fund helped Roaring Lion Fire victims last year and will do so again for the Lolo Peak victims now. Donations can be made at any Farmers State Bank and Florence Ace Hardware. For more information contact Kim Maclay at 529-4863. Also, according to Korrie Butler, president of the Lolo School PTSA, a fund has been set up to raise money for people who have been negatively impacted by the fire. More information can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/9tg5az-lolo-peak-fire-fundraiser.