Fire lines holding in

By JIM MANN

N. Fork

The Daily Inter Lake

More thunderstorms brought two new fire starts to the Flathead National Forest - and winds to fires on the Whitefish Divide - but containment lines have held.

The Sun Dog Fire has grown by about 300 acres on its uncontrolled western flank over the last couple days to a total of 1,300 acres. But the fire has been contained on other, more threatening fronts by 70-foot-wide fire breaks and areas that have burned out.

Despite more high winds at the head of thunderstorms that moved over the Whitefish Divide late Thursday, a new fire just south of the Werner Peak Lookout was stopped at 17 acres.

Two new lightning fires were picked up Friday, one near Paola Creek in the Middle Fork Flathead drainage and another in the Great Bear Wilderness. Both are less than an acre.

The Holland Peak Fire, just east of Condon, calmed down with more favorable weather on Friday. The 1,300-acre blaze had been highly active earlier in the week, at one time prompting an evacuation warning from the Missoula County Sheriffs Office for about 20 homes that are within 1 to 3 miles of the fire's western perimeter.

Denise Germann, public information officer on the Flathead National Forest, said a Type II incident command team will assume management of the fire over the weekend.

The team was called in because of potential for the fire to burn south into an area that has so far been inaccessible to ground crews.

"We anticipate movement of the fire on its southern flank, and that will change the complexity of the fire," Germann said. "It will be moving into heavier fuels."

About 100 Swan Valley residents attended a fire information meeting Thursday night in Condon, Germann said.

The lightning-caused Holland Peak fire started high on the Swan Mountain Range on Aug. 21. Firefighting efforts since then have mainly been aimed at preventing the fire from moving down into the Swan Valley.

Southwest of Noxon on the Montana-Idaho border, the Ulm Peak Fire has covered 3,100 acres.

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