Forest Service gears up for fire season
<p>In this photo released by the U.S. Forest Service, the Wildland Fire burns along Nichols Creek Saturday, March 28, 2015, near Red Lodge, Montana. Authorities evacuated a ski lodge in southern Montana because of a wind-driven wildfire heading toward it. The wildfire was reported about 1:45 p.m. Saturday and had burned an estimated 200 acres of grass and timber about 4 miles west of the community of Red Lodge. The fire began on open private land, but it was driven by winds gusting 35 to 50 mph into the Custer National Forest, where the Red Lodge Mountain Resort ski area is located. (AP…
Officials are keeping a sharp eye out for wildfires in the forest as spring arrives early and snow disappears from the mountaintops. Two wildfires have already ignited in Montana, at Pine Crest and Red Lodge, sparking concern for other locations as a result of the unusually mild winter.
“This year is unusual,” said Forest Service Fire Management Officer Nikia Hernandez. “The snow has disappeared quickly and at high elevation. Any time you have this low of a snowpack there’s a fire risk.”
The current risk isn’t significant, even though the snowpack is much lower than usual, Hernandez said.
“We’ve had enough precipitation to keep things wet. We haven’t even started with our prescribed burning because things are still too wet,” he said. “There’s really nothing too unnerving on the Kootenai yet.”
Hernandez said July and August are the months of greatest fire danger, when thunderstorms roll into the valley and ignite dry fuel in the forest. The majority of fires on the Kootenai National Forest, he said, are caused by lightning strikes. The lightning and fire season is expected to begin early this year, based upon current weather patterns.
An April 1 report from the National Interagency Fire Center summarized the current outlook. “In the Northwest, many reporting stations are experiencing green up at least a month earlier than usual. Recent observations show that fire danger remains generally below values needed to sustain significant wildland fires. However, the area appears poised to begin fire season earlier than normal as fire danger indices will be elevated when summer begins. Low snowpack and drought mean that upper elevations will dry quickly and become exposed to lightning ignitions earlier than usual. It is anticipated that June will become busier than usual for fire activity, especially if lightning is involved. Overall, the potential for a busy fire season appears to be increasing.”
The potential for fires this year bucks the trend of the past three years.
According to information from the Insurance Information Institute, wildfires consumed nearly 10,000,000 acres in the United States in 2012. The number of acres lost fell to slightly more than four million in 2013 and 3.6 million in 2014.
In 2013, 1,723 wildfires were reported in Montana, consuming 124,209 acres.
A hot, dry season doesn’t necessarily mean more fires, Hernandez said.
“We had an unbelievable streak of 90-plus degree days in the summer of 2007,” he said. “But we didn’t the lightning in the storms, and that’s what causes the bulk of the fires in the Kootenai.”
Should the fire season begin early, though, Hernandez said the Kootenai National Forest is ready to act.
The budget for this year means the fire crews will be at their full strength of about 100 people.
“We’ll be at full staffing for fire-fighting,” Hernandez said. “We will also have our full complement of engines and our helicopter.”
Hernandez said the Forest Service has primary responsibility for most wildland fires in the area. Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the local volunteer fire departments also provide support and response.
The number of different agencies involved doesn’t create any bureaucratic tensions or problems when fighting fires, Hernandez said.
“We all work really well together,” he said.
The seasonal fire-fighter staff starts hitting full strength around the first of May, Hernandez said, but about 40 to 50 personnel are on-station right now.
“We’ve already started our protocols for this year,” Hernandez said.