Quiet Day at Fool Creek Fire
Incident: Fool Creek Wildland Fire Used for Resource Benefit
Released: 8/9/2007
Yesterday's Activities: Isolated light rain fell on the Fool Creek fire on Thursday. Winds gusted to near 20 mph. And cloud cover kept the fire fairly quiet. Firefighters continued their routine of running pumps at several cabins, the Massey Tract and the 7 Lazy P guest ranch. Winds didn't interfere with helicopters all day and so they continued dropping retardant in Nesbit Creek and the area around the confluence of Porcupine Creek and the West Fork of the Teton River. The fire in the Nesbit Creek area appears well checked.
Weather and Fire Behavior forecast for today: A Pacific front will pass over the fire early Friday afternoon, bringing a chance of showers ahead of the front, winds gusts to 25 mph and switching the wind from southwest to west. This will dry and clear the air, dropping lower-elevation humidity into the upper teens. As a result, a red-flag warning is expected for the Rocky Mountain Front and adjacent plains on Friday. Early Saturday a Canadian cold front is also forecast which will lower temperatures, raise humidity, and bring northeast and east winds.
We can expect spot fires in the West Fork of the Teton River drainage to flare on Friday, but firefighters don't expect major down-canyon movement of the fire. Helicopters will drop retardant in the Nesbit Creek area and in the drainages of Porcupine and Olney creeks. Cloud cover will likely keep the fire in place as long as it lasts.
Today's Planned Actions: Firefighters will continue running pumps at Gooseberry, Sabido, and Wrong Creek cabins. Two firefighters will go into Wrong Creek cabin from Gates Park, run the pumps, do trail work, and spend the night, if conditions permit. Work at Massey Tract to hold and improve the sprinkler system will continue on Friday. Officials from the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) will go with firefighters to the two "snotel" sites in the Waldron Creek area and pull out sensitive instruments. These sites measure snowfall and moisture in snow. The sites may require additional work to protect them which the firefighters will do as needed. Firefighters will continue making assessments of buildings in the Arrowleaf subdivision on Friday.
Special Notices, Alerts & Restrictions: The Sun River, Ear Mountain and Blackleaf state wildlife management areas are closed. All of the Rocky Mountain Ranger District is closed except for the southeastern part of the Scapegoad Wilderness. Other adjacent areas of the Flathead National Forest are closed.
As of August 3, Stage II fire restrictions are in effect on the Rocky Mountain Ranger District outside of the wilderness; Stage I restrictions remain in effect within the wilderness.
Anyone wanting information about air quality can contact the Teton County Health Department (406) 466-2562. An air quality monitoring station is located outside of Choteau to measure air quality. Information on air quality conditions is available throughout the day at http://www.satguard.com/usfs (link to Real Time Data and Unit 90). Information on air quality in areas affected by forest fires in Montana is available at: http://www.deq.mt.gov/FireUpdates/index.asp.
