Aug. 14 Summary
Incident: Fool Creek Wildland Fire Used for Resource Benefit
Released: 8/14/2007
The Fool Creek fire made a major run Tuesday. Smoky conditions make it hard to determine the fire's exact location, but reports from pilots indicated the fire has reached Mt. Warner and Jones Creek. This is still inside the Lewis & Clark National Forest, but represents an advance of over four miles to the northeast.
The Fool Creek did burn through the Massey Tract, an area of summer cabins. No cabins were lost. Weeks of sprinkling kept the buildings intact. The fire is now one-half mile from the Teton Pass ski area, but the main energy of the fire went northeast as reported earlier.
Fire officials called landowners and residents north of the South Fork of the Teton, to let them know about the fire's movement today. Livestock interests in the fire's path are being asked to plan to move their cattle as early as Wednesday, if conditions are safe.
The weather forecast Wednesday calls for dry conditions through midnight. By Wednesday morning, cooler temperatures and higher humidity and winds from the northeast are expected on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain Front, with winds shifting to east by afternoon.
The west side of the fire may continue to have warm, dry conditions until later Wednesday afternoon. Later in the week a cold front is expected with a chance of thunderstorms.
Wednesday's tactics will depend on the location of the fire and how it's burning. The weather is likely to help slow the fire as higher humidity and lower temperatures set in for a few days.
While a new fire team (Whitney's Type One) is in charge of the fire, you can still call the Fool Creek fire at the phone number above and get information at www.inciweb.org/incident/776/.
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 Scapegoat Wilderness. Other adjacent areas of the Flathead National Forest are closed. The land managed by the BLM adjacent to the national forest boundary including the Blind Horse Outstanding Natural Area is closed.
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.
