Careless campers start fire along Rainbow Lake
<p>Devlin LaFrombois shows how unburned napkins mean the campers thought the fire was out. </p>
SANDERS COUNTY - Though fire restrictions have been lifted and the days and nights are getting colder, fire season is still upon us and a simple unattended campfire can still strike a blaze.
That is just what happened last Monday at a makeshift campsite next to Rainbow Lake off of Montana Highway 28.
In the evening, a fire was called in to Tribal Fire Department.
The fire spread to approximately 35 acres by Tuesday, but due to rocky terrain, GPS mapping was not entirely accurate as to the total size as reported by Charles Camel, the Fire Management Specialist of the Tribal Division.
By Wednesday, Camel reported that the fire grew up to approximately 60 acres and that there was a mix of 14 DNRC and Forest Service crewmen on it, 20 NAC crewmen out of Ronan, 16 division employees, five engines, two type 2 helicopters, three single engine tankers and one dozer being utilized.
Devlin LaFrombois, the Public Relations Officer and the Fire Investigator for the fire, said he made it to the fire Monday night while it was still burning heavily and inspected the site. He said he immediately found the campfire site, which caused the fire.
Upon inspection he said it looked as if the individuals who left the fire thought it was out because unburned cigarette butts and towelettes were found in the makeshift fire ring.
LaFrombois explained that if the materials were thrown in the fire they would have obviously burned up, but instead the smoldering crept along the ground outside of the fire ring and encountered enough material to light up.
From there, LaFrombois described how the fire followed the wind, thankfully away from the few houses that dot the side of the lake. He also said that the rocky outcroppings along the lake helped slow up the progression of the fire.
By Thursday and onward LaFrombois said much of the fire had been contained or slowed substantially. He said that he wants people to realize the dangers of leaving an unattended fire or not properly extinguishing one.
Driving around the Rainbow Lake Campgrounds he showed how designated campfire sites have substantial fire rings built and that he is part of a group that is working to get metal rings installed at all the sites because they can greatly reduce the risk of a campsite creating out of control fires.