http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2...cal/news02.txt

Saturday, August 09, 2003


Despite lightning, fires 'quiet' in Glacier
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian


Crews diverted to keep handle on small blazes

WEST GLACIER - Firefighting crews were pulled late in the week from a
25,725-acre blaze burning in and around Glacier National Park, as they were
needed to snuff new wildfire starts sparked by recent lightning storms.

"We sent a small initial attack team out," said Marty O'Toole, fire information
officer working the Wedge Canyon fire near the Canadian border on Glacier
Park's western boundary.




The lightning strike hit south of the Wedge Canyon fire, he said, in the Whale
Creek drainage north of Polebridge.

"We were on it pretty fast, and stopped it at about a quarter acre," O'Toole
said. "We don't want any new fires to add to the stress up here."

The stress includes the Wedge Canyon fire, the 23,950-acre Robert fire just
south of O'Toole's camp, and the 20,540-acre Trapper Creek complex of fires,
burning north of Going-to-the-Sun Road in central Glacier Park.

Crews on those fires also are committed to help with initial attack on any new
wildfires in the region, and this week have been assisting the Flathead
National Forest staff with dousing small smokers sparked by lightning.

Fortunately, O'Toole said, diverting a crew or two here and there has posed no
problems, as the large forest fires have been fairly inactive for most of a
week.

"We have these fire maps color-coded to indicate fire severity and activity,"
O'Toole said, "and this morning, I had to really search to see where the fire
had moved yesterday. It was very, very quiet."

Quiet is good, O'Toole said, considering the blaze already has torched seven
homes and 29 outbuildings.

No homes have been lost on the Robert fire, however, which is burning north of
Columbia Falls near West Glacier.

"The southern part of the fire is pretty well contained now," said Kassie
Hardy, fire information officer on Robert. Previously, the south and east
flanks of the fire forced evacuations around West Glacier and Apgar.

Crews burned out the forest between town and Robert, however, and the towns
have since filled with residents and tourists.

More burning is planned for the west flank of the fire, Hardy said, on the
Flathead National Forest north of Columbia Falls.

"We're just waiting on some hand torches, and then we'll get going," she said.

Crews on the fire's northeastern edge continue to cut line and work to steer
the fire away from huckleberry habitat critical for grizzly bears.

"That's a primary goal," she said. "We'd like to keep those huckleberry areas
as green as possible."

She said evening lightning has not presented many new difficulties for the
crews, although the winds that accompany the thunderstorm cells could help fuel
another run.

"We've been pretty lucky," said Scott Sticha, fire information officer on the
Trapper Creek complex. "The lightning's been mostly missing us and the wind
hasn't been too bad."

The Trapper fire, which forced the closure of Glacier Park's Going-to-the-Sun
Road for a week, is about 50 percent contained, Sticha said.

"There's still some active burning in the interior," he said, "but the
perimeter isn't growing much at all."

Likewise, the Wolf Gun fire has not added much to the overall size of the
complex and has stalled at about 4,330 acres. Located south of Logging Lake,
Sticha said the Wolf Gun fire is about 40 percent contained.

"We're still just working on mop-up," he said, "especially below the Sun Road.
Everything's just smoking along, slow but sure."

What is also sure is that even as skies are drying out, more lightning storms
are forecast for the Flathead.

"If that materializes," said forest spokesman Ken Frederick, "then you can bet
we'll have more fire starts. This summer is a long way from over."