Essex evacuation ordered; Highway shut down

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry ordered a mandatory, but precautionary, evacuation for Essex today and Highway 2 was closed at milepost 176.8 and 185.

The Sheep Fire is still on the ridge above the mountain town east of Columbia Falls. The fire is growing due to winds and temperatures in the 80s today, public information officer Sonja Hartman said.

They want to get people out of the town so firefighters can be stationed in the town, Hartman said. They decided it would be easiest to get people out earlier rather than later.

She said they are being “extremely cautious.”

Crews over the past few days have been building line and creating a shaded fuel break — a fire line where the trees are left standing but the brush and understory is removed, to keep the fire at bay.

Fire engines in the valley were dispatched for structure protection in the area, Columbia Falls Fire Chief Rick Hagen said.

No structures have been lost.

People can call emergency services in Kalispell for more information, 758-2111. Updates will also be posted to inciweb.nwcg.gov/

An emergency shelter will be set up in West Glacier. Essex is primarily a vacation town and is also home to the Historic Izaak Walton Inn.

The evacuation will apply from the Goat Lick Bridge on U.S. 2 west to the Schellinger gravel pit.

The fire, which has been burning south of Essex, was last measured at 1,111 acres Thursday morning.

A structure protection task force of fire engines from several fire departments, including Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Martin City, Coram and Creston, was dispatched to the Essex area.

There will be a public meeting tonight at the West Glacier Elementary School at 8 p.m. It will be held in the gym of the school at 160 Old Bridge Road in West Glacier.