Category: Committees

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.