Fire 70 percent contained by Monday

A public meeting about the East Fork Fire Monday afternoon in the Havre High School auditorium gave local and outside officials the chance to update citizens and answer questions about the fire that is number eight in priority in Montana.

One person asked Type 1 Incident Management Team Commander Kim Martin why the fire, which ignited Aug. 27, was allowed to grow so large.

"This thing should've never gotten this big," the person said. "Who was in charge of this thing? Nobody."

Bob Jones of Bureau of Indian Affairs and Rocky Mountain Regional Office Fire Plans answered the question, saying that from its inception, tribal and accompanying forces fought it with all they had.  But the conditions - heat, wind and dry tinder - made it nearly impossible to have stopped it from spreading once it was ignited, he said.

With progress on the fire - listed as 70 percent contained by Monday night - the online incident information page said this morning that the Hill County sheriff has lifted the evacuation order on Sucker Creek Road and Taylor Road allowing property owners to return to the areas. Sucker Creek Road has been opened to local residents; the public is urged to stay out of the area due to heavy equipment and emergency personnel still working.

Beaver Creek Park is still closed to recreation and all side roads in the park are closed.

Jones said Rocky Boy officials requested state assistance on Day One, but nothing was available. That first day, an air tanker dropped retardant and an aircraft dropped water on the blaze. Firefighters were creating lines and trying to keep it from spreading. By the end of the first day, the fire had consumed about 100 acres.

Ultimately, the fire was too much.

"The fire just beat them," Jones said.

The fire burned through the night and reached about 476 acres by Monday. Several agencies, in addition to the Chippewa Cree Natural Resources Forestry Fire Department comprising about 75 personnel, had responded including Bear Paw Volunteer Fire Department, Wildhorse Volunteer Fire Department and Kremlin Volunteer Fire Department.

By Tuesday, Jones said, the blaze had backed up into Miner's Gulch and consumed about 1,000 acres. Firefighters were creating lines and things were looking good going into Wednesday.

"Everyone was feeling like we had a chance," Jones said.

But that didn't last. By 6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning the temperature was already 76 degrees.

"That's when it took off," Jones said.

Within 12 hours, the fire spread from 1,000 acres to 7,500. Then it grew another 6,000 acres overnight into Thursday. An evacuation from Sucker Creek south to the reservation and east to the Blaine County line was ordered.

The incident information page listed the fire at 21,518 acres this morning.

After the meeting, Jones said he had heard rumors that tribal officials turned away help when it first ignited. He said his best guess was that people may be referring to when some people brought supplies on the first day and were turned back for safety reasons and because there was no staging area for the supplies.

Others at the meeting asked what the cattle grazing situation on Beaver Creek Park will be. Hill County Commissioner Diane Mclean said she had spoken to Park Superintendent Chad Edgar, who said the north-most pasture will bring cows on, the middle and south-most pasture will not.

Martin said during the meeting that the fire burned five cabins and five outbuildings on the park, but he did not know of any campgrounds burning.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. By Monday at 6 p.m., Martin said it will have been about 70 percent contained. The plan for the Type I team is to stay until it is contained enough to hand control back to local groups. When exactly they will leave remains to be seen, he said, but it would probably be around the end of the week.

Martin said the fire will not be put out completely for a long time.

"A lot of stuff is not going to be done until snow falls - there's going to be smoke coming out of there for a long time," Martin said.

As to when Beaver Creek Park will be open for recreation again, Martin said, local officials will make the decision based on the information they will have at the time.

A public meeting is scheduled this afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Vo-Tech Center on the Stone Child College Campus at Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and another is set for Wednesday, also at 4 p.m., at Bear Paw School on Clear Creek Road in Blaine County.

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Online: East Fork Fire Incident Information Page: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5582.