Category: Committees

Fire status report: Vance Hill & Werner fires

From Ryan Butler, Assistant Fire Management Officer-Operations for Hungry Horse-Glacier View RD…

Today, July 24th, 2023 we had a new start in the Vance hill area north of Polebridge. Township 34 N, Range 2W NW, NE section 28. The fire was reported around 1450 hours by Numa, Cyclone and Thoma lookouts. Size is currently ¾ acre in timber and brush. Due to the quick response of Flathead Helitack they were able to keep the fire from spreading. Currently Helitack and district fire personnel are being successful suppressing this fire.

This was a human caused fire on private, unattended campfire. Please help spread the word in the north fork community that we are in VERY HIGH fire danger and planning level 4. Fire season is well under way with no relief in sight.

The WERNER fire was declared out 07/24/23 at 1200 hours. All fire personnel are off the fire.

Red Meadow Fire – an official update

A note just received (5:00pm, July 20)from Fire Chief Lynn Ogle…

I just spoke with Lincoln Chute with the County.  He said that the last word on the Fire on Red Meadow is contained.  The last word from USFS was that the crews are doing “Mop-up” and will be probable spending the night.  More later if there is any more.  

From Andy Huntsberger, District Fire Management Officer…

Today, July 19th, 2023 we had a new start in the Red Meadow Creek Drainage. Township 35 N, Range 22 W, SW corner of section 17. The fire was reported around 2200 hours on July 18th and we responded to the reported fire this morning.

The fire is currently about 2 acres in size and we have 20 fire personnel on scene. 8 Helicopter Rappelers from the Kootenai NF and 12 Flathead NF Fire personnel. To date, we have used Type 1 and 3 helicopters for water bucket drops to help contain this fire. Fire activity is creeping and smoldering with some intermittent small flare ups. The smoke is light, white and visible from Red Meadow Road FS115. Fire suppression operations are being successful at this time.

There are no trail, road or area closures at this time.

Local fire season begins with the Red Meadow Fire

Red Meadow Fire location, July 19, 2023
Red Meadow Fire location, July 19, 2023

The “Red Meadow Fire” so far…

We don’t have much information yet. Reported at 9:42am, July 19, it is quite a ways up the ridge south of Red Meadow Road, about 6.5 miles west of the North Fork Road Junction. It was initially estimated at 1.5 acres. It looks like they’ve got at least two engines assigned to it and possibly some air support.

See the accompanying location map snagged from the DNRC Interactive Fire Map website.

Red Meadow Fire, July 19, 2023 - helicopter at Moran Meadow - photo courtesy of Cheryl Crane
Red Meadow Fire, July 19, 2023 – helicopter at Moran Meadow – photo courtesy of Cheryl Crane

Time to get ‘firewise’!

Quartz Fire August 18 evening - NPS
Quartz Fire August 18, 2022,evening – NPS

An excellent article in the Flathead Beacon about this year’s rapidly approaching fire season . . .

As Flathead County passes the midpoint of its fifth-driest year since 1894, top fire managers are bracing for a worrisome wildland fire season. Despite those ominous projections, officials say “firewise” residents and fire-adapted communities can provide the best line of defense by taking common-sense precautions to prepare.

With roughly 63,000 Flathead County residents living in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), or about 65% of the population — including 7,745 new residents who have migrated to the WUI in the past two years, according to U.S. Census Bureau data — top fire officials say education, outreach and proactive property owners could spell the difference between a calm or catastrophic summer.

“It’s just something that people need to understand and realize,” Fire Service Area Manager Lincoln Chute said Friday. “We live in a fire environment, so we all have a responsibility to mitigate the risk. And most of what we’re asking from folks is just commonsense behavior and maintenance.”

Continue reading . . .

June/July/August 2023 Wildland Fire Potential Outlook

I’m a little late in posting this, but here is the June/July/August Wildland Fire Potential Outlook.

July, August and September are looking dry for extreme Northwest Montana. The shaded areas are actually west of the Whitefish Divide, but lines mean nothing at that scale.

And this is merely an outlook based on global weather. What we get is what we get. What we do know is that we are dry for June now, even with the moisture that has come. Mountain snowpack is low, which is more of an issue for river floating than it is for fire season.

We should all hope for nice wetting rains spaced weekly through July and August, and the fall rains coming in after Labor Day. Works for me!

Regardless, now is a great time to do your trimming and grass mowing and get prepared for fire season. The July 1 update will give us a better forecast, but we all know we have fire season in July and August, sometimes carrying into September and October. Let’s hope for a short and quiet fire season.

Here is the link to the Outlook itself, and the file is attached:
https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf

Reminder: Basic Fire Training Day, Thursday, June 22

Greetings all!!  Here is the Agenda for the North Fork Basic Fire Training Day on June 22nd…

    • We’ll start at Sondreson Community Hall at 0930.  We’ll have coffee, bottled water, and light refreshments available.  Molly will open with brief introductions, then turn it over to Richard Hildner to brief the exercise at the Hildner Cabin.
    • The Group will travel to the Hildner residence at 350 Moose Creek Rd.  Structure Assessment forms will be passed out, the group split into teams, and the teams will be tasked with assessing the structures and the fuels modifications surrounding the structures.  We would appreciate Lincoln Chute, Todd Lando and Gary Mahugh forming the oversight group to put together the “book answers” and to debrief the teams as they report out on their findings.
    • At noon, the Group will return to the Community Hall for their brown bag lunch.  During this time, we’d appreciate it if Gary Mahugh would have some of his standard firefighting tools and supplies available to display and sell.  And Sean Johnson, if you could brief the Wedge Canyon TIP application process, there is time for that.  We don’t have plans to have a projector or laptop available for this event, but if you need a projector, the NFLA has one we can use.  You’ll either need to bring a laptop or let us know you need one.
    • After lunch, Kevin Ulrichsen will lead a discussion about how to suppress fires within the Structure.  We have asked Kevin or Lynn to lead a moment of silence in memory of Doug Barnes who passed away in a house fire.  We would like Gary Mahugh and Lynn Ogle to also participate in the discussion on fire suppression inside the structure.

Molly can wrap up whenever things are done – no later than 3:30.

More information: Basic Fire Training Day poster (PDF format)

Hopefully, one last push…

As you know, due to time restraints the Flathead County Commissioners continued our hearing on the text cleanup for our local zoning guidelines. It is now scheduled for November 29th at 9:00am on the 3rd floor of the old courthouse. We are hoping for a successful resolution, so your continued support remains essential. If you have not contacted the commissioners please take a few minutes to do so. Showing up at the hearing is likewise important. The commissioners contact information: babell@flathead.mt.gov, pholmquist@flathead.mt.gov, rbrodehl@flathead.mt.gov.

We extend our gratitude for your ongoing consideration of this issue so near and dear to us all.

Randy Kenyon
Chair, NFLUAC

The NFLUAC needs your help! Letters and comments are due by October 26, 2022!!!

 Even if you have written and sent in comments earlier in the process, we need your letters of support one more time to get us across the finish line.

    • Do you have a personal story about how you’ve been, or in the future may be, negatively affected if the zoning is NOT updated?
    • Are you concerned because our zoning is decades out of date and doesn’t meet current growth needs?
    • Are you concerned because our original zoning is sometimes confusing or ambiguous and leads to conflict within the community?

Please send a letter of support to the County Commissioners by October 26, 2022. Their email addresses are: babell@flathead.mt.gov, pholmquist@flathead.mt.gov and rbrodehl@flathead.mt.gov. The physical address is: 800 S. Main, Kalispell MT 59901. If you’re not up to letter writing, you can submit a comment here: cocontactus@flathead.mt.gov. The County Commissioner’s hearing is set for November 1, 2022 at 9:00am, third floor of the courthouse. The presence of landowners would bolster our cause.

Thank you for your support!
NFLUAC

Submit those Firewise-qualifying activities and expenses!

In order to maintain membership in Firewise USA, North Fork landowners must make an annual investment in wildfire risk reduction efforts. We’re required to calculate the number of hours spent in Firewise-qualifying activities, and the expenses associated with those activities.

A summary of some of Firewise-qualifying activities and expenses follows:

    • Collaboration and consultation time with forestry and fire experts
    • Organizing, planning, coordinating, implementing wildfire-related outreach events and educational presentations
    • Program administration time
    • Travel time to risk reduction meetings, trainings, and workshops
    • Attendance at wildfire-related education/informational meetings and events and at evacuation/preparedness trainings
    • Firewise improvements and maintenance on homes and outbuildings
    • Improvements and maintenance within the home ignition zone — for example, thinning or limbing up trees, reducing ladder fuels, dealing with slash and other debris, moving firewood piles
    • Vegetation removal; community clean-up
    • Committee members attendance and participation at Firewise committee meetings
    • Residents’ attendance and participation at wildfire education/outreach events
    • Writing wildfire educational articles

Qualifying expenses include equipment and tool purchases; mileage at the current IRS rate for attendance at wildfire-related meetings and trainings; purchases of food for meetings/trainings; contractor and labor expenses to perform risk reduction work; and the value of volunteer labor participating in risk reduction projects.

The Fire Mitigation Committee asks North Fork landowners to add up the number of hours they have spent in qualifying activities as well as the expenses they have incurred from November 1, 2021, to October 31, 2022. Please email your total hours and expenses to Molly Shepherd, mollshep@gmail.com. Your hours and expenses will be included in applying for renewal of the North Fork’s membership in Firewise USA.

One last zoning push; County Commissioner’s hearing Nov 1

A message from the North Fork Land Use Advisory Committee . . .

SUBJECT: ONE LAST ZONING PUSH!

It’s time for North Fork Landowners to get our revised zoning Text Amendment across the finish line with the County Commissioners! The NFLUAC needs your help!

WHY IT MATTERS:

Many of you have previously written extremely helpful letters of support for the Text Amendment.  We understand there is “planning fatigue”, but we need you to rally yourselves one last time and submit letters of support! Personalized letters pack the biggest punch, especially if they say WHY this matters to you:

      • Do you have a personal story about how you’ve been, or in the future may be, negatively affected if the zoning is NOT updated?
      • Are you concerned because our zoning is decades out of date and doesn’t meet current growth needs?
      • Are you concerned because our original zoning is sometimes confusing or ambiguous and leads to conflict within the community?

Please send a letter of support to the County Commissioners before the November 1, 2022 hearing, the earlier the better to ensure it is received and read. Their email addresses are: babell@flathead.mt.gov; pholmquist@flathead.mt.gov and rbrodehl@flathead.mt.gov.  The physical address is: 800 S. Main, Kalispell MT  59901.   If you’re not up to letter writing, you can submit a comment here: cocontactus@flathead.mt.gov.    The County Commissioner’s hearing is set for November 1, 2022 at 9:00am, third floor of the courthouse.

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

A brief Summary of the Text Amendment, the Text Amendment itself and our letter to the Commissioners are linked below.  Italicized portions of the Text Amendment are those which are unchanged from the existing regulations.

Thank you for your support!

NFLUAC

Attachments