55 structures destroyed in River Road East Fire

Progress and patience were two of the key words emerging from a public information meeting this past Thursday regarding the River Road East Fire near Paradise and Plains.

“We’ve spent a lot of time doing structure defense operations,” Northern Rockies Team One Incident Commander Brent Olson told the gathering of approximately 75 area residents during the meeting at Plains High School.

“The recent rain gave us time to get after establishing perimeter lines,” Olson said. “We estimate about 69 miles of containment line will be needed to contain the fire, and about 35-40 percent of those lines have been established”

While that is progress, helped by the rain and calmer winds, the battle is far from over.

“There is always the potential for more winds,” he said. “Containment is not just establishing a line around the fire, there is also a lot of clean out of dry fuels in the fire areas that has to be done. I suspect this will be a long term effort”.

That effort, he added, has been aided by an increasing number of firefighters and assets being redirected from other area fires to aid in the River Road East zone. More than 700 firefighters were assigned to the incident as of Monday.

The fire broke out last week as yet unknown causes and quickly expanded from one acre to nearly 17,000 acres have now been affected, pushed along by 30-40 mph winds in the Paradise area where the blaze began.

Rumors and speculation continued about what caused the fire during the week, with one being the fire started by sparks from a passing train. The fire, Sanders County Sheriff Shawn Fielders said, is still under investigation by a combination of area law enforcement agencies, including Sanders County.

“There has been a lot of speculation, but it needs to be emphasized that no cause has been officially determined,” Fielders said.

Remarkably and thankfully, the Sheriff added, no reported injuries to firefighters or residents have occurred since the fire began more than a week ago.

Crews from a wide variety of government agencies have come together to attack the wildfire, several speakers said. They said cooperation among the various agencies involved has been a bright spot in the battle.

Most speakers also thanked the crowd for the contributions and cooperation from local residents.

“This community has really come together to help this effort,” said Greg Poncin, area manager for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. “We thank all the agencies involved and thank the people locally who have been so supportive of our efforts”.

Those sentiments were echoed by Fielders, who said the fire has affected 55 structures, including 15 homes as it has grown. He also urged residents to continue helping the firefighters by being aware of fire crews and equipment flooding into the area.

The heavy rainfall had the side effect of weakening roots and loosening rocks, sending debris into area roadways, officials said last week. Teams were working to clear the roads of hazards.

Fire managers planned to spend last week working with residents to identify the best location to construct a fire control line along the blaze’s northwest perimeter. The sought-after line could connect to the bluffs along River Road East and hopefully preventing the fire’s spread north of Pat’s Knob Road.

If possible, crews also hoped to work along the fire’s east flank in the Camas Prairie area to prevent further spread.

A firing operation was planned for Sunday, Aug. 27 in an effort to remove unburned fuels in the Patrick’s Knob area.

According to Northern Rockies Incident Meteorologist Jonathan McGee, "the rains that we received were good."

"Most of it came from moisture related to tropical weather moving through Baja California, but forecasts call for a return to hot weather in the days ahead," he said.

Paul Corrigan, a NR Air Resource Advisor urged area residents, particularly the elderly and those with chronic lung and other health-related conditions to keep an eye on the Air Quality Index, which has moderated but was in extremely unhealthy ranges.

“It’s a good idea to be aware of exposure to the smoke,” he said, “Especially for those with heart and lung ailments”.

Authorities met with citizens following the hour-long public meeting to address individual concerns they may have.

Last week, the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office began allowing residents of Paradise Gulch Lane to return home. McLaughlin Creek Road was also reopened to residents.

The Red Cross, meanwhile, has established a shelter for those who have been displaced or experienced other losses as a result of the fire. The shelter is located at the Church on the Move, 300 Clayton Street, Plains.