Eagle Mount Fire Morning Update 09/06/09
Incident: Eagle Mount Wildfire
Released: 9/6/2009
DATE: September 6, 2009 TIME: 8:00 AM
INCIDENT: Eagle Mount Fire
INCIDENT COMMANDERS: Joint Command -
Rich Cowger, Chief Columbus Fire & Rescue
Doug Williams, DNRC County Assist Team
INFORMATION OFFICERS DNRC County Assist Team: Linda Williams & Dwayne Andrews & Lee Schmelzer PHONE: 868-1487
For public to get updated information on the fire status:
Stillwater County Emergency Operations Center Phone - 322-8065
Stillwater County web-site: http://www.stillwater.mt.gov/
Inciweb Site: www.inciweb.org
FIRE LOCATION: 2.5 miles west of Columbus, north of Highway 10 and extending north over Interstate I-90 across the Columbus Hill. The fire is west of Rapelje Road and east of the Springtime Road exit on I-90.
JURISDICTION: Stillwater County - private land and subdivisions
ASSISTING AGENCIES: Fire departments from: Columbus, Absarokee, Molt, Red Lodge, Laurel, Big Timber, Reed Point, Roberts, Nye, Joliet, Park City, & Rapelje.
Stillwater County agencies: Sheriff's Office, Search & Rescue, Disaster & Emergency Services, County Extension, GIS, & Road department.
Other agencies: Montana Highway Patrol, Montana Department Natural Resources & Conservation, Montana Department of Transportation, American Red Cross, & Bureau of Land Management.
RESOURCES ON FIRE:
PERSONNEL: 200
FIRE ENGINES: 28 & 2 Hand crews
BULLDOZERS: 4
HELICOPTERS: 4
WATER TENDERS: 3
CURRENT SITUATION:
ACRES: 900 acres (revised due to more accurate mapping)
CONTAINMENT - 75%
ACTIONS TAKEN: Crews monitored the fire all night. Yesterday crews made good progress on reinforcing the line with bucket drops and mop-up efforts. Some rehab work was begun on dozer lines.
After a more thorough inspection of the entire burn area, fire officials have now determined that three structures, none of which are residences and one bus used for storage have been burned. The fire burned up to and scorched some homes. Fire Wise fuel mitigation actions had recently been completed in and around some of the homes in the subdivisions, which greatly reduced the threat to the homes and aided firefighters. BLM grant funds are utilized to assist landowners in completion of these fire mitigation efforts.
ACTIONS PLANNED: Crews will continue mop-up operations and rehab efforts. National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for this afternoon with potential gusty winds, so crews are closely monitoring fire activity and reinforcing the fire perimeter.
SPECIAL CONCERNS: 41 structures are located within the fire perimeter. There is a major power line & substation along with an additional 80 structures potentially threatened that are located some distance outside of the fire perimeter.
Public is advised to avoid traveling in the areas where firefighters are completing mop-up and engines are utilizing the roads.
FUEL TYPE: grass, timber & brush and some steep terrain
WEATHER: High temperatures and light winds. Concern over the red flag warning with gusty afternoon winds that could cause erratic and quickly changing fire conditions.
HISTORY OF EVENT: The Eagle Mountain Fire ignited at 3:35 pm on September 3, 2009 north of Highway 10 mile marker 6. The cause is under investigation. Initially the fire ran northwest until a strong local weather front changed wind direction driving the fire northeast. Extreme fire behavior caused spotting up to one-quarter mile ahead of the fire front. The fire crossed Interstate 90 over the Columbus Hill around 5:30 pm.
Stillwater County used the emergency notification system to evacuate residents from Columbus Heights and Eagle Mountain subdivisions.
