West Mullan: A look back

SUPERIOR - This time last year near Superior, the West Mullan Fire was threatening homes, businesses, people and property as it inched closer and closer to Superior during the time from July 14 to July 25 when it was declared extinguished.

Had it not been for the resources and hard work of the Forest Service, the county commissioners, Mineral County Sheriff’s Office, the Superior Volunteer Fire Department, the community that came together to support them all and many other entities, the results could have been disastrous.

After a year, memories of the West Mullan Fire still linger in the minds of the men and women who fought to protect the town of Superior. Three of the firefighters who were part of the initial attack phase of the operation shared some of their stories and experiences.

James Faller and Rob Cole have 13 years with the Forest Service between the two of them and both grew up in the area. Andy Vale was in his first season as a wildland firefighter. All three described the experience as one of the most significant events in their careers mainly because the fire threatened the property and people of Superior.

Faller described the initial attack phase as one centered around preventing the fire from engulfing structures. He said the conditions were ideal for the fire to grow.

“It wasn’t big at first,” Faller said. “When we got out there, we realized we had already lost the fire. There was one structure near the bottom of the fire and our main goal was to keep it away from that structure. A good part of the crew engaged with the rural fire department around the house.”

Ultimately, the combined resources of the Forest Service and the rural fire department were successful in keeping the blaze at bay. However, the fire spotted and jumped, continuing to spread. Faller said by the end of the first day, the fire had spread considerably.

“We fought the fire till dark,” Faller said. “By that time it was way up there. It was a fairly dangerous fire. It was flanking laterally so the crews had to keep chasing it. It was pretty huge. We were basically trying to save the town. We didn’t lose any structures or any businesses.”

Rob Cole said he remembered thinking what made the West Mullan Fire stand out in his mind was it was one of his first experiences trying to save structures. He said while he has been on many fires in his seven years with the Forest Service, he hadn’t been on many where saving physical property was the main goal.

“For me it was a new experience,” Cole said. “When you are trying to save a structure, it changes the way you work. Normally we make a safe anchor point and work our way around the fire. But with a structure there you worry about it and try to hold that area around it.”

Vale was in his first season with the Forest Service when the West Mullan Fire blew up. Vale reiterated the words of his two colleagues when he said with structures at risk, the whole dynamic of the situation changed.

“The fire behavior was extreme,” Vale said. “I had been on a large fire however it was not local. When we arrived on the scene, the smoke column was huge. It had a lot of energy. Rural fire was already on the scene getting people out. We moved into the field around the base of the fire and started to saw out materials that could fuel the fire.”

Vale said even while in the field, he knew the fire was getting big. He said he overheard radio traffic indicating vast resources were being called in to assist local firefighters.

“I definitely recognized it as a large fire when I could hear them calling in for resources from all over Western Montana,” Vale said. “When they called in a Type II National Incident Management Team I recognized it was a significant event. It was just the type of fire that required more people, machinery and resources.”

Superior Volunteer Fire Department Chief John Woodland said, for his department, the proximity to homes, businesses and property of friends and family made the experience personal. He said their focus was also on protecting structures and after his personnel were pulled off the fire, they wanted to go back and help.

“I kept my crew focused on structure protection,” Woodland said. “It was clear pretty quickly we were dealing with something much bigger than we were used to. It was a pretty intense experience. One of the most frustrating things for my guys was to pull back. We needed to be ready for something else that might happen, but the guys wanted to be directly engaged.”

The West Mullan Fire burned for over a week in mid July growing to almost 6,000 acres at the height of its intensity. Forest Service officials said at one point there were over 500 personnel aiding the effort to extinguish the fire.

Forest Service officials also praised the high level of cooperation and coordination between local, county and state resources including county commissioners and officials, the MCSO, Montana Highway Patrol, the Superior Volunteer Fire Department, the St. Regis Volunteer Fire Department, the Frenchtown Volunteer Fire Department and others who came to help save the town of Superior.