Crews work to protect Essex from Sheep Fire
As thick smoke held the Sheep Fire at bay, a trainload of 70 firefighters were working to build line in the Middle Fork of the Flathead with hopes to keep the blaze from spreading to Essex.
The fire is listed at 607 acres as it burns the slope directly across the river from Glacier National Park’s Goat Lick viewing area on the Middle Fork. The fire has yet to make any large runs, however, despite seeing high winds last Thursday and Friday.
The town of Essex, just a mile away, has about 200 homes and structures that are potentially threatened by the blaze, but the projected prevailing winds, which come from the southwest, want to push the fire to the northeast, which would be away from Essex, said fire analyst David Greathouse on Sunday.
Fire activity late last Wednesday and Thursday had firefighters closing U.S. Highway 2 and the BNSF Railway line as a precaution. Both routes have reopened, though the highway has a pilot car system in place to guide vehicles through the fire area.
Greathouse said the next few days could be trying for firefighters. Another small blaze, the Granite Creek Fire, which although it is only a little more than 280 acres now, has the potential to gain a ridge in the Great Bear Wilderness and threaten the Highway 2 corridor near Snowslip, which is a few miles east of Essex.
“It’s setting itself for some big gains,” Greathouse said of the Granite Creek Fire.
The Thompson Fire in Glacier National Park is the largest of the fires at more than 16,500 acres. But it’s burning in Glacier’s Nyack Creek backcountry, about 14 miles from Highway 2 and so far has yet to even spot across the Continental Divide. Despite its size, it’s the lowest priority of the blazes.
To date, more than 1.1 million gallons of water have been dropped on the trio of blazes along with 55,400 gallons of retardant. Most of that has gone on the Sheep Fire.
The overall fire season will likely extend well into the fall.
The 2015 fire season is above the 97th percentile for severity, Greathouse, noted, pointing to a graph with a jagged line during the daily fire meeting at the Thompson camp on Sunday. The green line was the 2015 fire season to date, a ragged red line slightly above it were benchmarks set primarily in 2003, another severe fire year.
Most fire seasons end with a big rain or snow, usually in August or September, but this year is shaping up to be different, Greathouse said.
“It’s so dry, it will take more than one season ending event,” he said. “In my opinion (the fire season) will fade away. We’re in it for the long haul.”
Sitting in the front row listening to the grim news was Glacier Park superintendent Jeff Mow, U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines and Forest Service supervisor Chip Weber.
Both Daines and Tester afterward thanked the firefighters at the Thompson camp for their efforts. They noted that no structure was worth a life and implored crews to be safe out there.