Bullhook sets counseling for people in East Fork Fire

Havre Daily News staff

Bullhook Community Health Center in Havre has set a series of events starting today to help people deal with the stress of dealing with the East Fork Fire in the Bear Paw Mountains.

“The type of stress and devastation involved with these fires can have a profound emotional impact on the people affected,” said Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor Jay Getten. “The group sessions will focus on processing and normalizing feelings attached to the fire as well as educating participants on the nature of trauma and coping strategies.”

Getten and Licensed Clinical Social Worker Lindsey Reichel will hold the free trauma counseling sessions today and for the following five Thursdays, Sept. 28 and Oct. 5, 12, 19 and 26 and Nov. 2. The sessions all will run from 5 to 6 p.m. in the center’s Jon Tester Conference Room.

People invited to the sessions are anyone impacted by the fire including property owners, family members, fire fighters and other emergency and first responders.

The fire started near the East Fork Reservoir on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation the afternoon of Aug. 27. Firefighters, residents and volunteers fought the blaze for weeks.

The first week, firefighters appeared to be getting the blaze under control when gusty, shifting winds, difficult terrain and tinderbox-dry conditions would lead to it expanding again.

The fire grew from a few hundred acres Aug. 27 to about 1,000 acres Aug. 30. It then exploded, growing to more than 15,000 acres by Aug. 31 and 20,000 acres by Sept. 1.

After a top-level federal fire management team came in and started coordinating operations, the firefighters seemed to have it mostly under control, except for a flare-up Sept. 8 near the intersection of Sucker Creek and Clear Creek roads that burned close to another 400 acres before firefighters contained it in about four hours.

The cooler weather and rain led to state incident management team that resumed command after the federal team left to declare the fire 100 percent contained last Saturday. The fire is listed as at 21,896 acres and is expected to continue to smolder in spots for weeks or months.

All restrictions and evacuation orders have been lifted, including county officials re-opening Beaver Creek Park to recreation.

But the recovery will likely take years, and Cindy Smith, CEO of Bullhook, said people also may need to talk to someone about the mental and emotional stress they underwent.

“Traumatic events can include experiencing natural disasters such as the fires in Montana this summer,” Smith said. “The impact severity of any event is different for everyone. Bullhook Community Health Center believes that everyone should have access to someone to talk to about how they were impacted by the fires and how they can best begin the healing process, both individually and as a community.”