Landowners talk about East Fork Fire damages

Landowners whose property burned in the East Fork Fire talked about the damages Wednesday afternoon after a meeting hosted by the Type I Incident Management Team concluded.

The federal fire management team held the last of three meetings Wednesday afternoon, updating people on the fire and what can be expected in the coming months, at Bear Paw Elementary School on Clear Creek in Blaine County.

Team leaders told people the fire had been 90 percent contained, and by the time they leave a team comprising local groups will be assembled to make sure the nearly 22,000-acre fire will cool down in the remaining hot spots. As in previous meetings, citizens were told the fire will probably not be completely quelched until snow begins to fall.  

Colleen Faber, Rich Gorecki and Teddy Crowley own property in Hill and Blaine counties and they all lost something when the East Fork Fire came blazing on to their property.

Faber said 60 percent of her nearly 2,000 acres were burned by the fire, along with more than 20 head of cattle. They lost hay as well.

During the meeting, Blaine County Farm Service Agency Executive Director Tracy Harshman told people to call the agency office to see what help there is available. Harshman said people were already making use of programs like the Livestock Forage Program, but additional programs may be available that can help. Assistance from other programs largely depends on whether the cause of the fire turns out to be natural or man-made, Harshman said. The programs she was thinking of would be applicable only of the fire was caused by natural means.

Faber said her family will not use any government programs. The losses are "the cost of doing business," she said.

She and her family were gone when their property lit up. She was notified by their neighbor, Gorecki, that the fire was coming onto their property and they might lose everything. Fortunately, Faber said, they didn't lose any buildings or machinery.

Gorecki said he didn't lose livestock or buildings. The fire was coming from the west and south on his property.

Crowley, whose property spreads across Hill and Blaine counties said he lost about 8,000 acres in pastureland. The fire was coming "from all sides," he said.

"It was chaos - I've never seen anything like this," he said.

Blaine County Undersheriff Frank Billmayer added that the grassland Crowley lost was "good quality stuff."

Crowley said neighboring farmers, ranchers and volunteers all were amazing in their efforts to help. His efforts consisted of moving livestock around the property to make sure the flames didn't catch up to them. He said he was awake for almost 36 hours straight during that spell. He didn't lose any livestock.

Billmayer said volunteers had come from as far as places like Glasgow, Turner, Belt and Lewistown.

The East Fork Fire started 12 miles south of Havre on the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation Aug. 27 and was first reported about 3:53 p.m. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The initial attack was conducted by Rocky Boy Natural Resources Department and other tribal personnel, and by the end of Sunday, it had consumed about 100 acres of land, some off the reservation.

As the fire burned through the night and the next day, it increased to about 476 acres by the end of Monday. Dry and windy conditions had created perfect conditions for the fire to beat firefighters, Bob Jones of Bureau of Indian Affairs and Rocky Mountains Regional Office Fire Plans said.

Before the fire took off, it seemed fighting forces had a good handle on it. Wednesday was the big day. By late Wednesday morning it began spreading, this time with warnings that it was moving up Miner's Gulch and approaching Beaver Creek Park. By early Wednesday afternoon, the fire had jumped onto the park and into the Sucker Creek drainage.

Evacuations were ordered for the area south of Sucker Creek Road to the Rocky Boy Reservation line, west to Rocky Boy Reservation and east to Blaine County line at 12:59 p.m. and travel south of Bear Paw Lake was restricted to vehicles involved in the fire operation.

By Thursday the fire had gone from 1,000 acres to 15,000 acres. It ultimately peaked at 21,518 acres.

The Type I Incident Management Team arrived Saturday and took over Sunday. Along with deploying two hot shot crews, they organized the large number of volunteers and landowner forces already on the ground.

Along with local volunteers, agencies that have responded to the disaster include the Rocky Boy Natural Resources Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs,  Bear Paw Volunteer Fire Department, Kremlin Volunteer Fire Department,  Geraldine Volunteer Fire Department, Carter Volunteer Fire Department, North Toole County Volunteer Fire Department, Teton County Volunteer Fire Department, Big Sandy Volunteer Fire Department, Blaine County Volunteer Fire Department, Blaine County Disaster and Emergency Services, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Hill County Disaster and Emergency Services, Montana Disaster and Emergency Services and Hill County Health Department.