Aug 23: Additional firefighters arrive to Quartz Fire; West Flattop Fire contained

Quartz Fire from the air August 21, 2022 - NPS
Quartz Fire from the air August 21, 2022 – NPS

From the press release . . .

Incident Commander: M. Lewelling
Fire Information Recording: 406-206-6099
Fire Information Phone: 406-206-5272 (8 am to 6 pm)
Fire Information Email: glac_fire_line@nps.gov

Additional firefighters arrive to Quartz Fire; West Flattop Fire contained

Current Situation: Fire activity moderated on the Quartz Fire yesterday due to slightly cooler temperatures and scattered rain. No significant growth was observed. Updated infrared mapping was not available last night, so the fire remains 1,678 acres.

Nine firefighters, known as a Wildland Fire Module, arrived to assist with management of the Quartz Fire. They will relieve Glacier National Park firefighters who had been assigned to the fire, freeing them to respond to any new fires detected from recent lighting. An additional engine with six firefighters has also arrived to assist with future initial attack needs.

Firefighters were successful in suppressing the West Flattop Fire at less than an acre. Three Glacier National Park firefighters were flown into the fire on Monday and contained the fire by late afternoon.

Weather: A low pressure system coming from the west will result in increased rain showers and thunderstorms over most of western Montana including Glacier National Park. There is a 60 percent chance of precipitation today, and those storms will bring a 50 percent chance of lighting. Today’s high temperatures are predicted to be 85-95° in valleys and 68-78° on ridges, with ridge top northeast winds of 5-10 mph becoming east later in the day.

Closures: Glacier National Park has enacted a Closure Order for the areas, campgrounds, and trails within the Quartz Lake drainage from the Continental Divide to the Inside North Fork Road for the protection of park visitors, employees, and natural resources. This includes the Quartz Lake Loop trails starting from just south of Bowman Lake toward Quartz Lake, as well as the Quartz Lake and Lower Quartz Lake Wilderness Campgrounds. A map of the closure is available on InciWeb.

Fire Restrictions: The fire danger rating in Glacier National Park is currently Very High. All park visitors are reminded that campfires are allowed only in designated fire grates and should be kept small. Never leave a fire unattended and drown any campfire with water until cold to the touch before leaving it.

Air Quality: National air quality and smoke conditions can be monitored at https://fire.airnow.gov/. Visibility in different parts of Glacier National Park can vary from hour to hour, depending on fire and wind conditions both locally and throughout the west. Check the park’s webcams at https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm for current views.

Size: Approximately 1,678 acres
Total Personnel: 30
Start Date: Sunday, August 14, 2022
InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8337/
Containment: 0%
Cause: Lightning
Location: 25 miles north of West Glacier
Fire Information Office: 406-206-5272

Quartz Fire Heat Map, August 22, 2022
Quartz Fire Heat Map, August 22, 2022
Quartz Fire Closure Map, August 18, 2022
Quartz Fire Closure Map, August 18, 2022

Area wildfire status, morning of August 4th

Using information from various online resources…

The Weasel Fire in the Kootenai National Forest continues to grow slowly, reaching 162.38 acres according to the IR estimate posted this morning. It still poses no threat to the North Fork.

The Flattop Mountain Fire in Glacier NP continues to skunk around at 0.1 acres.

Weasel Fire Aerial Recon, August 2, 2022 - USFS
Weasel Fire Aerial Recon, August 2, 2022 – USFS

Area wildfire status, morning of August 1st

Using information from Lynn Ogle, Debo Powers (currently at Cyclone LO) and some digging through online resources…

The Weasel Fire is at 30 acres, up from it’s initial 10, and moving towards the northeast. It generated a lot of visible smoke yesterday, but is currently no threat to the North Fork. Location is in the Kootenai National Forest, 26 miles northwest of Polebridge (see image; fire location is in upper left corner).

The hot spots in last year’s Hay Creek burn disappeared from the satellite imagery overnight and there is no smoke from that location.

The Flattop Mountain Fire in Glacier NP continues to skunk around at 0.1 acres.

There were no other verifiable local smoke reports yesterday.

Bill

Weasel Fire Location, 1 Aug 22
Weasel Fire Location, 1 Aug 22

Area wildfire status, morning of July 31st

Hello, everyone.

This is a summary of local wildfire issues based on information from Lynn Ogle and various other resources. No agency had issued any press releases at the time I put this together at 0720…

Glacier Park: Flattop Mountain Fire, 0.10 acres; initial report 29 July.

Flathead NF: Two hot-spots along the ridgetop in last year’s Hay Creek burn; FNF is sending a ground crew in to check it out; initial report 30 July. (See image below.)

Kootenai NF: Weasel Fire (sometimes called “D3 Weasel”), on the east slope of a ridge to the west of Weasel Creek. It was about 7 acres in extent initially on 30 July, is now 13.50 acres, and is being handled by the Kootenai National Forest. According to Bill Fordyce, “The Kootenai has put a lot of resources on the Weasel Fire. It’s a 10 plus acres. Some of that area burned 5 or 6 years ago so there would be standing dead and down…”

Bill


Approximate position, according to Zoom Earth, of the two hotspots in last year’s Hay Creek burn. The nearest is about 6.5 miles west of Polebridge. We should know more once Flathead NF gets some people up there to look around…
(look for the kind of orangy glows near the left edge of the image. Those spots are *not* to scale, they just indicate rough positions!)

Hay Creek Hotspots, approximate postions, 31 July 22
Hay Creek Hotspots, approximate postions, 31 July 22