Regional fires foul valley air

By JIM MANN

The Daily Inter Lake

Smoke has choked the Swan Valley for several days, with active burning on the Holland Peak fire just east of Condon.

The same dry, hot weather behind that fire has also caused active fire behavior on other fires in Northwest Montana. But so far, the Holland Peak fire and Sun Dog fire on the Whitefish Divide have behaved as expected, and have been stopped along planned containment lines.

The Holland Peak fire was last estimated at 670 acres. Strong inversions have trapped smoke in the Swan Valley, particularly during the morning.

As expected, the fire crept down the Swan front in finger-like burns this week, finally reaching a line of defense that included hose lines along Forest Service Trail 192 between South Fork Creek and Buck Creek. Firefighters are working that line, and a secondary line has been cut with heavy equipment along Forest Road 905.

Allen Chrisman, fire management officer for the Flathead National Forest, said the Tango Point fire has been burning just as actively in the Bob Marshall Wilderness on the eastern slopes of Holland Peak. That fire has reached about 800 acres, and is separated from the Holland Peak fire by "a wedge of rock," Chrisman said.

That wilderness fire and several others are being monitored, with no suppression efforts, for "resource benefits."

The Sun Dog fire, last estimated at 1,100 acres, is now considered more than 65 percent contained with a 70-foot wide fire break cut along forest roads around much of its perimeter. The fire's gradually increasing acreage is largely the result of the fire approaching the fire breaks.

Firefighters also have been burning out pockets of fuel to "harden" the fire lines over the last week. Firefighting resources have gradually been leaving the fire as confidence in its containment has grown.

On Wednesday, the Type II incident command team that had been managing the firefighting effort turned those responsibilities back over to the Flathead Forest. The fire camp on the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. property was demobilized. Firefighting costs to that point were estimated at $2.4 million.

There firefighting resources that remain in the North Fork came in handy Wednesday afternoon as thunderstorms moved over the Whitefish Range, touching off at least four new fires.

Initial attack crews were still en route to those fires by late afternoon. All of the fires were estimated to still be less than an acre at the time.

"We have resources in the North Fork with the Sun Dog fire, so that will help," forest information officer Denise Germann said.

Meanwhile, the Ulm Peak Fire 12 miles southwest of Noxon has been active in recent days. That fire was last estimated at 1,850 acres, and is considered only 15 percent contained.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com