Category: Fire Mitigation

According to the USFS report in the Daily Interlake dated October 1, 2015, fires will continue to burn until significant RAIN and or SNOW. At this time the fires in Lincoln County continue to burn but pose NO immediate threat to Private Property.

Marston Fire is now over 7000 acres.
Goat Rock Fire is over 22000 Acres.

The fire season is being lifted in Flathead County has been moved to Open burning. However the following information should be followed.

1. Check the weather forecast and air quality for Rain and or Wind events.
2. Establish a fire line and clear the Perimeter around your fire, down to bare soil.
3. Have an adequate WATER supply and EXTRA persons to help control any fire that might escape your control.
4. NEVER leave any fire unattended!
5. Start debris fires small and add in small amounts to insure you can keep your fire contained.
6. Always REMEMBER that you can be held Financially Responsible for suppression costs, should your fire escape!

Lynn P. Ogle
Fire Chief, Trail Creek Irregulars

Firewise Day

The Fire Mitigation Committee sponsored a successful Firewise Day workshop on July 15, 2015, preceding the Summer Interlocal meeting. About sixty people attended. Committee co-chair Allen Chrisman put together an excellent program, with presenters from all of the agencies with wildfire responsibilities on the North Fork. As ever, the committee is grateful for their long-term collaboration.

Lincoln Chute was among the presenters at the workshop. He is Flathead County Fire Service Area Manager and now a member of the Fire Mitigation Committee.   He reminded attendees that wildfire preparedness is a matter of personal responsibility. There’s only so much that firefighters can do. Furthermore, landowners can’t count on having fire engines available to save their homes, since a shortage of volunteers has made it difficult to staff engines. He urged landowners to put their addresses on posts or mailboxes marking their driveways, using reflective numbers that can be easily seen in an emergency.

Mr. Chute and other presenters also discussed the danger of ember showers, which can ignite structures or the fuels around them a long way from a fire front. Decks and vents are especially problematic in an ember shower. Presenters encouraged landowners to inspect in and around their homes, to identify places where an ember might enter or ignite flammable materials, and to take steps to mitigate any hazards. Don’t store firewood on decks and do cover the openings to woodsheds, preferably with canvas or fire-resistant material. Cut the grass around structures and keep it green. Clean up the brush around propane tanks.

Manny Mendoza of the USDA Forest Service highlighted dangerously dry conditions so far this year. The area experienced the hottest, driest June in history. Although some rain and cooler temperatures in early July moderated the danger, Mr. Mendoza remarked that we’re still on the same track we were on in 2001 and 2003, when we had massive fires on the North Fork.

Grant Status

Progress has been made on the Trail Creek ingress-egress project. Duke and Naomi Hoiland have done significant work along their stretch of Trail Creek Road. Other landowners with frontage on the road are initiating fuels reduction projects, with assistance from the North Fork’s fourth cost-share grant.

Here is the latest Wildland Fire Potential Outlook:  http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf.

They have been pretty accurate this year in their forecasts. Here are a couple of excerpts from the Outlook regarding the Northern Rockies:

Northern Rockies: Above normal significant wildland fire potential will continue over northern Idaho and northwestern Montana from August through mid-September, with conditions returning to normal for the remainder of the outlook period through November. The rest of the Area will see normal significant wildland fire potential for the entire outlook period.

Long range data suggests that typical hot and dry conditions can be expected for August and early September, which would promote normal activity during the peak of fire season in most areas, except northwest Montana and N Idaho where above normal activity is possible. The same data suggests a pattern shift to a cool, wet pattern during the second half of September. Should this occur, it should be sufficient to begin to wind down fire season 2015.

Looking beyond September, the Northern Rockies Region is typically out of fire season. However, significant wind events during the transition from fall to winter can sometimes produce brief flare ups of activity mainly east of the Continental Divide until the snow falls. Given that this will be an El Niño fall and early winter, chances are good that the arrival of the winter snow will be late.
While it mentions elsewhere in the report that the dead fuels in Northern Idaho and Western Montana have extremely low moisture content, they also note that the live fuels are cured, dry and available. We might be in a little better shape up the North Fork in terms of live fuels, especially those that are shaded and not out in the open. This is small consolation, however, since as we have observed, fires will move quickly through the dead component and consume the live component even if the live component does not actively assist in the spread.

So, I’m looking forward to the middle of September and hope that cooler, moister conditions move in as forecasted. Until then, keep your fire tools sharp and your water handy…

Below is the most recent ERC (Energy Release Component) graph for our area (Glacier Park and Bob Marshall Complex) which represents the receptiveness and volatility of the forest fuels:

You can see that the moisture we got in July moderated the ERC’s for 2015 (blue line) significantly compared to the path they were on before the 4th of July. We are just returning to the levels we saw at the first of July, but are well ahead and above an average year (grey line), and will be getting back close to the max again (red line). Let’s hope we get good moisture out of the system forecasted early this week, without the lightning….

The New York Times published an interesting article with some powerful photographs talking about the hot, dry conditions and resulting fires that are happening this year in California in particular and the West in general. Check out the article here.

The fire season is upon us here in the Northfork

Should we have a fire which is actually on the ground; there are a few things to think about to protect your property, yourself, family, friends and neighbors.

1. Know your escape route. Plan your route and know that you can make it out ahead of danger.

2. In the event you or family members have health problems get out early. Do not wait until the last minute to leave. The smoke can be more deadly to someone with breathing or other health issues than the actual fire.

3. Have your most valuable personal items packed and do not plan on having some of your friends come from the valley if the fire is threatening your home.

4. Have your roof clear of debris, i.e. branches, needles, leaves and any other items that you have neglected to remove.

5. If you store firewood around your building, move it away from the building into an open area. You can always move it back in the fall. Firewood gathers fire embers and will burn as easily in a pile on your deck or under you porch as it would in the stove and it will burn your home down.

6. Have your water on and keep your yard as green as possible. If your lawn has already turned brown you can mow it off close to the ground. Fire needs fuel to burn. You can put rain bird sprinklers on your deck, porch and or roof.

7. Let’s say that the road to your home is 10 feet wide, you need to clear the brush and trees back ten feet on either side. If a pickup or other larger vehicle cannot get to your home without rubbing branches or brush, you cannot expect fire personnel to go into your home to protect it.

8. You need to have your fire resistant clothing ready and in a place that you can get into it easily. Your clothing needs to consist of the following:

A. 100% cotton clothing, unless you have fire resistant clothing, i.e. Jeans, black or blue.

B. You need to have lace up boots. Fighting fire in clogs, flip-flops’, tennis shoes, boat-shoes etc. is a dangerous thing to do.

C. If you are wearing clothing that is Spandex or other lightweight flammable materials, you are making yourself into a medical problem. The new lightweight materials are usually very flammable and you can be shrink-wrapped in an instant if you are close to the fire.

D. Have a good pair of leather gloves. The gloves should be the kind that you wear and are somewhat broken in. Do not use gloves that have no fingers or are full of holes in them.

E. Have all of your shovels, saws and fuels away from your home or garage or other out building. Note, shovel, rake and other tools handles burn. The middle of your lawn is good, or if you have a large open space. Mow the area and rake all of the grasses and other debris away from your fuel area. Then cover with a good heavy canvas tarp, NOT a plastic blue, green, silver or any other color you might have as they are usually made from a petroleum produce and burn readily.

F. MAKE SURE THAT YOU TURN OFF YOU PROPANE TANKS AT THE TANK.

In the event of a major fire, the incident management team may have a team of structure protection people come around and triage your home and or property. If you have not made your home fire-wise, or you have a drive that is not safe to put fire personnel in on, you should be aware that your home will NOT be protected.

Plan ahead, live longer and be safe.
Lynn P Ogle, Fire Chief
Trail Creek Fire Service Company
(Aka; The Trail Creek Irregulars)

OK – here is the grim news with no relief in sight.  It doesn’t get much starker than this:

http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf

Dead fuel moisture levels in North Idaho and Western Montana are below normal for this time of year in several PSAs, and will continue to be very dry through the summer. Fine fuel and live fuel moisture values in these areas are curing out rapidly with hot dry weather and will be at peak summer dryness levels in early July.

North Idaho and Western Montana are four to five weeks earlier than normal fire season development, and ERCs and 1000hr fuel moistures will be extreme by mid-July and continue through September while returning to normal is anticipated by October.

They are actually understating the fuel models – our ERC’s are higher now than they ever get in the “Normal” Fire Season, and they are two to three weeks ahead of the previous Max ERC’s:

So you know why it feels like August out there – because it is.  We are going to have at least two months of August, then probably a warm September and a mild winter.  While we will still not be as bad off as Oregon and Washington, it will be small consolation because given this forecast we will see a very active and long duration fire season.

We’ll just hope that they are wrong and our fall rains will start on the 4th of July…. That’s my wish!

Keep your fire tools sharp and handy, and watch for smoke.

Thanks.  Allen

The Flathead Beacon reports that Western Montana is in the clutches of an historic dry spell with triple-digit temperatures on the horizon, worsening the threat of fire danger and severely lowering stream flows. Open burning season is being closed a week early due to heightened fire conditions, according to state officials. The last day to burn debris in Flathead County is June 23. Read the full story here.

Firewise Day

The North Fork’s annual Firewise Day will be held on Wednesday, July 15, 2015 from 9:30 – noon in Sondreson Community Hall. The Firewise workshop will precede the Summer Interlocal meeting.

We anticipate another excellent program. We’ll begin with a video about wildfires in Washington and Oregon in 2014. The video depicts extreme fire behavior. Then Lincoln Chute, Flathead County Fire Service Area Manager, will give a presentation about evacuation planning, structure triage, and county responsibilities during a wildfire. U.S Forest Service personnel will inform us about fire season projections and staffing levels. DNRC foresters will explain their role and the services that they provide on the North Fork. Finally, we’ll have a display and demonstration of common tools for fire suppression and information about sources for the tools.

The program is timely and tailored to what is expected to be a very active fire season in Western Montana, given the record-setting warm and dry conditions this Spring. We hope to see you at the workshop.

Ten Years as Firewise Community

The North Fork recently was honored for having been a Firewise Community for ten years. The two basic requirements are to hold an annual Firewise Day event and make a minimum per capita expenditure on Firewise activities. We received a trophy commemorating our long-time membership. It will be displayed in the Hall.

Grant Status

Landowners along Trail Creek Road have received a letter informing them about potential grant assistance for removing hazardous fuels on their properties adjoining the road. The project is a priority for our fourth hazardous fuels grant. Treating fuels along the road will improve landowners and firefighter ingress and egress. It also will afford an escape route over the Whitefish Divide for the north end of the valley.