Pattengail Creek Fire Update for Thursday, July 26
Incident: Pattengail Creek Wildland Fire
Released: 7/26/2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jon Kohn, Information Officer
Date: Thursday, July 25th, 2007Phone: 406-832-3178 (Wise River Ranger District)
Fire Start: July 13, 2007Cause: Lightning
Total Acres: 4,256 acresContainment: 25 percent
Location: ten miles northeast of Wisdom, Montana, on the Wise River District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
The Pattengail Creek Fire is burning in dense lodgepole pine and subalpine fire, in a remote rugged location with no escape routes and no natural fuel breaks. An incident command team is actively managing firefighting efforts. Due to intense national need for resources, the team has developed action plans to respond safely to the fire as conditions change. We are currently fighting a delaying and slowing action. To contain the fire is unsafe in its present location, and will require many hundreds of firefighters on the ground. Managers should receive more resources as the fire moves to locations where aircraft, crews and equipment will have more success protecting property.
Wednesday, crews "cold-trailed" the west and north side of the finger on the fire's west side, removing every smoke with the aid of bucket drops. Firefighters completed assessing more than 150 homes. Advice on preparing homes for wildfire is available from http://www.firewise.org/ and from County Emergency Services coordinators and fire wardens.
Tom Wagenknecht, the Fuels Reduction Coordinator for Beaverhead County, coordinates grants for homeowners to improve the defensibility of their properties. Tom's phone number is 406-596-1251.
·Note: No structures are considered threatened at this time, and no evacuations have been ordered. Structure protection efforts are only precautionary.
Today's Operations: At 7:00 a.m. crews were hiking 90 minutes from their safety zone to the fire. They are working through heavy dead and down timber on steep slopes, trying to complete fireline along the fire's northwest finger. This afternoon crews will extinguish spot fires on the west flank of the fire, with the aid of bucket drops.
Incident Commander Diane Hutton's team is continuing to coordinate with local, county, state and federal agencies, planning to minimize the fire's impact on people and property.
Resources include one Type 2 initial attack crew, a helitack module, and various support personnel. A medium helicopter and a light helicopter are working the fire. The fire has grown only slightly in two days, due to Tuesday's rain. The current map reflects the fire boundary. The fire edge is eight miles from structures in Grouse Creek. Residents can take initiative to help protect their properties at Saturday's public meeting at 7:30 p.m. in Wise River.
Fire Weather: High temperatures will be in the 80's with scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. East winds of 5 to 15 mph will shift to southwest early Friday morning. As fuels dry, trees are torching on the fire.
Fire Restrictions and Closures: Stage 2 fire restrictions ban all open flame of every kind, except gas stoves. Any smokers must smoke in a vehicle or use an area completely clear of burnable material. Driving off designated roads and trails is prohibited. Stage 2 restrictions also limit the operation of chainsaws or other engines, as well as blasting, welding, and similar activities, to hours from 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. Anyone using a small engine outdoors must patrol for two hours afterward, to find any sparks.
Forest lands on the north end of the West Pioneers, north of Lacy and McVey creeks, west of the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway, are closed for public safety. The east Pioneers and south half of the west Pioneers remain a great choice for recreation.
