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Little Salmon Creek Complex |
Contact: Flathead National Forest, Spotted Bear Ranger District, 406-758-6470 or 5376
What: Lightning-caused wildland fires.
Status: The Little Salmon Complex comprises 16 active fires. Eight of them are Wildland Fire Use fires; eight are in suppression strategy. Fuels in the complex include ponderosa pine, larch, subalpine fir, lodgepole pine, and whitebark pine. These fires are creating a mosaic pattern consisting of stand replacement timber and varied age classes, as is naturally found in the Wilderness. Extremely dry fuels combined with continuously warm temperatures and low relative humidity have kept these fires alive for several weeks.
Summary of Activity: This summary update applies to all sixteen fires in the Little Salmon Complex. Temperatures on Tuesday only reached 56 degrees with 47/100 inch of rain at Spotted Bear at 3,750 foot elevation; Spotted Bear Lookout at 7,230 foot elevation reached 39 degrees and received 23/100 inch of rain; and Big Prairie at 4,639 foot elevation got up to 55 degrees but only received 10/100 inch of rain in the past 48 hours. Most precipitation did not get through the tree canopy and the ground and large fuels are still extremely dry. Spotted Bear received drizzle on and off during the day, and was mostly cloudy. Jumbo Lookout received ¾” of snow. This was not a season ending event.
Most fires were fairly quite today. Several air missions were attempted, but weather minimized flight time. Mid fire had smoke on the north and northwest corner. Little Salmon had a new spot on the northwest corner. Gyp Mountain fire had smoke on the south end. Some Creek fire was quiet. Gordon fire was smoky and had groups of trees torching on its southeast flank in the Danaher Creek drainage. Leota Peak and High fires were not observed. Again, no infra-red flight was done last night because of cloud cover so the acreages of the fires remained the same today.
On Wednesday, air work will still be weather dependent. Firefighters may be transported to cabins that have sprinkler systems to winterize pumps. Since Big Prairie has been burned around on all four sides, we will begin to break down the structure protection equipment and stockpiling it. After an air reconnaissance tomorrow, priorities for work will be reassessed. Tomorrow will bring 10% chance of rain and will be partly cloudy. 10-15 mph winds from the west. Temperatures should get into the 60’s.
CLOSURES –The East Side Reservoir Road 38 is open. The area north of Spotted Bear River Road 568 is open, but the part south of the road remains closed. Spotted Bear River Trail 83 is only open 2 miles to Blue Lakes.
The West Side Reservoir Road 895 remains closed from Highway 2 south to Spotted Bear Ranger Station because of the numerous fires in the Blackfoot Lake Complex.
WILDERNESS CLOSURE INFORMATION: On the Flathead National Forest, in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, the entire South Fork Flathead River drainage, as well as the Spotted Bear River and Dean Creek drainages, are closed to entry. The Danaher area is closed to entry. The Middle Fork of the Flathead River drainage in the Wilderness remains open and is accessible from Highway 2 and from east side trailheads.
On the Lewis and Clark National Forest, the upper South Fork Sun River Drainage area has been closed to public use. The Indian Creek and Ahorn area, east of White River Pass remains closed. The Falls Creek area north of the Snow Talon fire remains closed.
On the Helena National Forest, the Scapegoat Wilderness west of Sourdough Creek and Trail 479 is open. The eastern portion of the Scapegoat Wilderness on the Helena National Forest remains closed.
The Lolo National Forest portion of the Scapegoat Wilderness remains open.
Location: The Little Salmon Complex is located 47 miles southeast of Kalispell, Montana, in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.
Current Sizes:
There wasn’t an infrared flight the past two nights, so the acreages
stayed the same.
33,441 acres in Fire Use strategy: Little Salmon Creek: 30,099 acres (+253); Pagoda Mountain: 320 acres; Independence Park: 68 acres; Salmon Point: 0.1 acre; Casey Creek: 333 acres (+143); Little Hammer: 1 acre; Lime Creek: 2,620 acres (+234); and South Spud: 0.1 acre.
43,018 in suppression strategy: Mid: 11,226 acres (+382); Gyp Mountain: 3,891 acres (+311); Some Creek: 13,228 acres (+1,236); Gordon: 12,765 acres (+3,614); Molly Creek: 43 acres (+4); High: 122 acres; Leota Peak: 1,740 acres; and Crimson: 3 acres. (Note- Mid fire has been added by in to the Little Salmon Complex for management purposes)
76,459 total acres (+6,177)
Concerns: Firefighter and public safety, aviation, and the effects of smoke on surrounding communities.
Resource Benefits: Preserving natural processes will be the key benefit of restoring fire to the wilderness. In addition, this fire will help to minimize future threats to firefighters and wilderness users by restoring more natural burn patterns on the landscape. Future fire size and intensity will be reduced by breaking up the landscape with these natural ignitions. Note that the fire perimeter acres are just the outside edge of the fire. Some acres have burned hot, some areas have burned in a mosaic pattern, and some areas have not burned at all.
The Small Business Administration approved a disaster declaration, allowing qualified small businesses affected by the fires and closures to apply for assistance. The SBA has scheduled public meetings.
Jurisdiction: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service - Flathead National Forest, Spotted Bear Ranger District.
Resources on Fire: Dick Rath’s fire use team is managing the Little Salmon Complex. District and other resource overhead and field people continued making visitor contacts and implementing structure protection measures on administrative cabins and the Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Approximately 57 personnel worked directly related to this fire complex on both the fire use and suppression fires.
Trail Closures: On the Spotted Bear Ranger District access to trailheads for Meadow Creek and Gorge Creek and the entire South Fork Flathead River drainage of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The Spotted Bear River and Dean Creek drainages are also closed.
The West Side Reservoir Road 895 remains closed due to fire activity.
The Rocky Mountain Ranger District of the Lewis and Clark National Forest has closed several trails east of the Little Salmon Complex: Ahorn Creek Area - Indian Creek #211; Ahorn Creek #209; and East Fork Ahorn #225. Falls Creek Area - #229 from the Lewis and Clark National Forest boundary 1 mile south of County Road 577 (Dearborn River Road) to the Forest boundary at the Continental Divide; #266 from the junction with #229 to the Forest boundary at the Continental Divide; #219 from the junction with #229 to the Forest boundary at Red Mountain; West of Benchmark Trailhead in the Upper South Fork of the Sun River - #202 from the junction of #226 to its southern terminus; #226 from the Continental Divide to the junction with #202; #227 from the Continental Divide to the junction with #202; #246 from the Continental Divide to the junction with #202; #248; #247.
On Helena National Forest lands, all lands east of Sourdough Creek and Trail 479 in the Scapegoat Wilderness, remain closed. The western part of the Scapegoat Wilderness is now open.
NOTE: The Lolo National Forest portion of the Scapegoat Wilderness is open to public use.
Trail and areas affected by the fires will be reopened as soon as trail crews can remove debris and ensure that traveling in the area is reasonably safe. Please be aware that safety is our number one concern and that we will open these areas when we are assured that there is a minimal safety risk from fire. Make sure that you are aware of current fire restrictions and area closures before you head outdoors.
Trailheads for Monture; North Fork Blackfoot; Benchmark; West, Middle, and South forks of the Teton River; Morrison Creek; Bear Creek and other trailheads can still be used to access open areas in and outside of wilderness.
Community meetings: meetings held 9/6, 9/7, and 9/8 at 9:00 am with the 3 local resorts.
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