Fire meeting planned Sunday evening at MIneral Co. Fairgrounds
A community meeting will be held at the fairgrounds in Superior at 6 p.m. Sunday, July 11.
This meeting will be open to the public and streamed live on the West Lolo Complex Facebook page.
A complex of 10 fires, meaning information on multiple fires burning on the Superior and Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District will be provided under one incident name, West Lolo Complex.
These fires are visible from the communities of St. Regis, Thompson Falls, Superior, and Plains and travel routes in between.
All fires are being managed under a full suppression strategy.
The fires have been prioritized by the values at risk with public and firefighter safety as the top priority. Other considerations include minimizing impacts to local communities, private property and structures, timber resources, highway corridors and recreation improvements.
Multiple large fires are burning in Montana and Idaho. Six incident management teams have been mobilized since Monday to address fire activity in the local area.
Nationally the Northern Rockies area is the highest priority due to multiple new large incidents. Fire activity is high in many locations across the country and fire resources are limited.
To view a summary of fire activity nationally and incident management team assignments visit https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf.
At this time, limited firefighter resources are focusing their efforts on fires located on the Superior Ranger District due to the high probability of success in containing these fires which includes Sunset and Deep Lookout Mountain.
Superior Ranger District
Sunset Fire: 10 acres, located up on the Dry Creek Divide, eight miles south of St. Regis
Deep Lookout Mountain Fire: 55 acres, located on the upper reaches of the Deep Creek Drainage, north of Interstate 90, 12 miles east of Superior, and five miles west of Stark Mountain Lookout.
Yesterday, firefighters successfully completed containment lines on the Thompson Fire and it is contained. Firefighters will monitor the fire in the coming days.
Additionally, resources made good progress to gain access into the Sunset and Deep Lookout Mountain fires with heavy equipment.
Fire crews used helicopter bucket drops and retardant on both fires to help cool down the fires edge and slow the spread.
Firefighters accessed the Sunset Fire Friday and focused their efforts on a spot to the east of the main fire’s perimeter. They successfully constructed fire line around the spot fire’s perimeter.
Saturday, firefighters planned to concentrate their efforts on the main fire and constructing fire line around the perimeter.
Contact Information
Information Line: 208-274-9674, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Website: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7620/
Facebook: facebook.com/WestLoloComplex
Twitter: twitter.com/LoloNF
Email: 2021.westlolo@firenet.gov
Fire statistics
Location: Multiple locations
Date of Origin: July 6
Cause: Lightning
Total fire acres: 342 Containment: 1%
Cost: $1.2 million
Injuries: 0
Structures Lost: 0
Structures Threatened: 0
Resources
Crews: 4
Engines: 0
Helicopters: 7
Water Tenders: 1
Dozers: 3
Personnel: 159
The Deep Lookout Mountain Fire burned actively Friday and was anticipated to do so Saturday. Firefighters gained access Friday and began building fire line along the fire’s perimeter.
The use of aerial resources and the work firefighters accomplished Friday has provided the opportunity for firefighters to make good progress constructing fire line Saturday.
Aerial resources will continue to be used on both fires to slow the spread as firefighters work to build containment lines.
Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District
Siegel Fire: 15 acres, located 3-4 miles up the Siegel drainage northeast of Quinn’s Hot Springs
Sheep Fire: 6 acres, located on the west of the Clark Fork River across from Quinn’s Hot Springs, 1/2 mile of the ridgeline, and visible from Highway 135 and Highway 200.
Winniemuck and Thorne Creek: 300 acres, located northeast of Thompson Falls.
Firefighters completed containment lines on the Quinn and Sheep fires. Firefighters also made good progress on the Siegal fire constructing containment lines starting at the south end and working on the east and west sides.
Use of aerial resources later Friday afternoon to cool the fire’s edge allowed firefighters greater opportunity Saturday morning to further complete containment lines.
The Thorne Creek and Winniemuck fires are burning one-half mile apart from each other. These fires are located in steep, rugged terrain, in heavy dead, downed fuels in the Cube Iron/Silcox area.
Smoke will be visible from these fires and, at times, could be significant. Fire managers are continually monitoring all fires from the ground and air and will reprioritize the use of limited resources if threats to the values at risk change.
Weather
High pressure built over the Northern Rockies Saturday producing terrain influenced winds which could increase fire activity and be challenging for firefighters. A dry cold front anticipated Sunday has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Fire Weather Watch on Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., due to a combination of hot daytime temperatures, dry humidity and high winds.
Evacuations, closures and additional information
• Know before you go! Area, road, and trail closures are issued for areas impacted by fire on the Lolo National Forest. Closure information is updated on the Lolo National Forest webpage at
https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/lolo/alerts-notices.
• A temporary flight restriction is in place over the Deep Lookout Mountain fire area. If you fly, we can’t. Visit knowbeforeyoufly.org.
• Evacuation information can be found for Mineral, Sanders and Missola counties on each county sheriff's office Facebook pages.