By JIM MANN

The Daily Inter Lake

Montana's largest fires had a high profile in the Flathead Valley on Monday, all of them putting off towering smoke columns as they continued to grow.

A column from the Skyland Fire peaked over the Swan Mountain Range, partly driven by "burnout" operations along U.S. 2 near Marias Pass. The controlled burns were aimed at creating a break to keep the fire from crossing the highway.

On Sunday, the fire was active on all fronts, growing to more than 8,550 acres. That was the still the official acreage late Monday night, but "the fire has grown some today," said information officer Dale Warriner.

A stretch of U.S. 2 was closed on Sunday, but was reopened Monday with escort vehicles leading traffic through the fire area. There was a temporary closure resulting from a contract support vehicle for fire operations rolling over and injuring two people who were transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Air tankers flying out of Glacier Park International Airport continued to work the fire. Nearly 500 people were working on the blaze as of Monday night.

The fire has burned within roughly a half mile of the Summit Station Lodge, which has been evacuated.

Warriner said it is expected to burn over the Blackfeet Reservation sometime Monday night, a change that will prompt some homes between the Two Medicine and Little Badger Creek to be put on alert for a potential evacuation. They are about 2 1/2 miles from the fire, Warriner said.

Huge smoke columns could be seen further south over the Swan Range, rising from the Ahorn and Fool Creek fires on the east side of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

The Fool Creek Fire was last mapped at 10,922 acres. The Ahorn Fire grew from 16,870 acres to 30,000 acres on Sunday. Both fires will likely have considerably larger size-ups as a result of Monday's fire activity.

The Brush Creek Fire, located about 29 miles west of Whitefish and 20 miles north of Marion, was estimated at 2,050 acres after a late afternoon patrol flight.

Although no structures are currently threatened, Tally Lake Ranger District officials were hosted an information meeting at the Star Meadows Guard Station Monday night.

"It's just that the smoke is very visible right in that area," said Teresa Wenum, fire information officer with the Flathead National Forest. "We had a lot of calls yesterday from people who are concerned, so the district is interested in making sure they are available to answer questions."

The fire is burning near the Flathead and Kootenai national forest boundaries and so far has prompted closures of the Sylvia Lake campground and a section of Forest Road 538-B.

There are three 20-person crews on the fire, along with heavy equipment. A Type Two management team from Florida is expected to assume management of the fire in the next couple days.

With the help of a CL-215 "Super Scooper" air tanker, firefighters continued to make progress on the Garceau Fire 11 miles southwest of Polson on Monday.

The bright yellow plane repeatedly skimmed Elmo Bay on Flathead Lake, scooping up loads of water that were dumped on the fire, which has burned just more than 3,000 acres.

"We're holding at the same acreage as well as the same containment," said fire information officer Terina Mullen. "There's a lot of mop-up work that needs to be done where line has been constructed."

Mullen said there winds were gusting up to 25 mph, "but all containment lines held."

There are just more than 300 people working on the Garceau Fire, which was triggered by lightning and first detected on July 24.

Initial attack efforts continued on new fires in Northwest Montana on Monday as well.

Most notably, a fire that emerged south of Red Meadow on the Whitefish Divide was enough cause for worry to call in a drop of eight smokejumpers along with helicopter support all day.

Burning just outside the Stillwater State Forest, the fire appeared to be corralled by late afternoon, said Dan Cassidy, fire program manager for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

There's a long history of fires starting on the Whitefish Divide and then running into the North Fork Flathead drainage, most recently in 2003 and 2001.

Another fire turned up roughly six miles southwest of Lakeside in the "Island Unit" of the Flathead National Forest, attracting a helicopter, a dozer, three engines and a heavy heli-tanker.

Late in the afternoon, lines were cut around 60 percent of the fire and "it looked like they were going to be successful catching it," Cassidy said.

Because of a weather forecast calling for gusty winds at the head of an incoming cool front, firefighters were dispatched to cool down a small fire that had been smoldering on the Mission Mountain Wilderness area since July 18, Wenum said.

As a safeguard, a trail leading into the Cold Lakes Basin was closed.

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