Firefighters tackle Rainy Creek blazes; fire danger at extreme

With temperatures around the century mark, firefighters tackled three lightning-caused wildfires that were detected Sunday in the Rainy Creek area.

While the area falls within the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site, Kootenai National Forest Fire Manager Officer Dan Rose said only one of the three fires was in Operable Unit 3, which contains the former W.R. Grace vermiculite mine.

The 3-acre Tub Gulch Fire was not contained as of Monday morning, but Rose said helicopters did good work on the fire Sunday.

“There is line around 2/3 of the fire, hose lays around the other 1/3 and we’ll continue aggressive work on it Monday,” Rose told The Western News. “Firefighters wore the powered air purifying respirators and they, along with their equipment, went through the decontaminating process when they were done working.”

Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Thomas Lane was very appreciative of the Forest Service’s approach.

“We’re super thankful for the aggressive approach,” Lane said. “Air monitoring was started, but it will be about 72 hours before we get samples back.”

Lane said the Lincoln County Asbestos Resource Program is collecting air samples every 24 hours to monitor the ambient air for LA asbestos levels (due to a wildfire at the former Libby Asbestos mine site).

Stationary air monitors are located in Libby as well as outlying areas along Montana 37 and U.S. 2. After 24 hours of collection, the samples must then be documented and shipped to a certified laboratory for analysis, which takes time.

Finally, the samples will be analyzed, and the results distributed to the team for evaluation.

Additionally, Lincoln County Health Department continually monitors outdoor air quality in the Libby area for particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) levels and will make recommendations for public health based on the guidelines provided by MT DEQ.

The County Health Officer is continually monitoring the air sample results (asbestos and PM) to make recommendations to the public about their safety.

Also, a closure order is now in effect for roads near OU3. The purpose is to prevent and reduce human caused fire starts in and around Libby Asbestos Operable Unit 3 (OU3) during elevated fire danger. OU3 is an Environmental Protection Agency listed site in need of clean up from past asbestos mining operations. Any fire within OU3 can only be fought with limited firefighting personnel and equipment.

It’s been five years since a fire burned near the OU3 site. The Highway 37 Fire, which was caused by a discarded cigarette, burned 70 acres.

Prior studies show amphibole asbestos is present in the soil, duff, tree bark, ash from wood burning, surface water and sediment. The Environmental Protection Agency established the boundary based on information about human health exposures, asbestos levels in the aforementioned areas and topography.

As of Monday, two of the four fires were listed as contained, including the 3-acre Mitchell Creek Fire and the 0.2-acre Rainy Creek Fire. Both of those fires are outside OU3.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Andrew Smith was working traffic control at the entrance of Rainy Creek Road Sunday evening. He told The Western News he was patrolling on Jennings Haul Road when he saw smoke in the area and called it in. He said multiple helicopters dropped water on the fires.

Workers from Dick Anderson Construction were removing fuel tanks from the area Sunday evening in case the fire spread.

A fourth fire on the Kootenai National Forest was the 4-acre East Fork Sunday Creek Fire burning in a remote area above 5,000 feet on the Fortine Ranger District. It was also caused by lightning. None of the four fires threatened any structures.

While the four fires that began Sunday were all lightning-caused, Kootenai National Forest fire managers elevated the danger level to extreme on Friday due to hot and dry conditions.

Stage I fire restrictions went into effect Saturday, July 29 across northwest Montana, including the Kootenai National Forest, Flathead National Forest, Glacier National Park, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation - Northwestern Land Office, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 1, and Lincoln County, Flathead County, and Sanders County.

No campfires are allowed on the Kootenai National Forest, even at designated recreation sites.

“It’s another effort to try and control the amount of fires,” Rose said. “We are in the top five of dry conditions over the last 20. Human-caused fires are something we can prevent, but we obviously have no control over the weather or lightning.”

For more information on Stage I Fire Restrictions and other information visit https://www.mtfireinfo.org/

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures are expected to remain hot and conditions dry this week. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms is forecasted for Friday.