HAMILTON – This time of year at 7,500 feet, the heavy fuels that crisscross north-facing slopes usually are wet enough that they don’t burn easily.
That’s not what firefighters battling the 1,200-acre Chrandal Creek fire on the Bitterroot National Forest are seeing this year.
“A lot of what’s burning are those heavy, dead fuels from snags that have fallen over in the last 50 years,” said Bitterroot Forest fire management officer Rick Floch.
A short winter and an unusual warm snap in April are probably to blame.
On top of that, Floch said, firefighters are having to contend with trees under attack from mountain pine beetles that create their own fire hazard.
“The beetles basically girdle the tree, and that prevents moisture from getting from the root to the top of the crown,” he said.
Researchers have documented a 30 percent to 40 percent drop in moisture levels in the green needles of a tree being attacked by beetles.
Without moisture, the flammable material in pine needles is easily ignited, which creates the additional hazard of a ground fire quickly jumping up into tree crowns.
“It’s going to make this summer kind of interesting,” Floch said. “Can we catch those fires on the ground before they have a change to get into the crowns and take off?”
At Chrandal Creek, the fire slowed Tuesday when winds died down, but still there were spot fires reported up to one mile outside the fire’s main perimeter.
On Wednesday, there were 150 people assigned to the fire, including 120 firefighters. A new incident management team is scheduled to take over management of the fire Thursday morning.
With wildfires around the region coming under control, Floch said it hasn’t been difficult to obtain resources for the fire.
“We’ve been told that they could send us more crews if we needed them,” he said.
The fire is located about 10 miles southeast of Painted Rocks and 42 miles south of Darby. It’s burning in an area that is extremely remote and rugged on the Montana-Idaho border.
Floch said the nearest road is about a mile and a half away on the Montana side. On the Idaho side, access is even more difficult.
The plan now is to find safe areas where crews can begin working to contain the blaze.
In some cases, crews may use areas that have already burned as their safety zones. There are also some meadows that are “as green as Ireland” where crews can safely attack the blaze, Floch said.
“It’s like eating an elephant,” he said. “If you take one bite at a time, you’ll be OK.”
A lot will depend on what happens with the weather.
The forecast calls for some more heat and the potential for wind with approaching thunderstorms. Some of the storms could bring some rain, which would make a big difference, Floch said.
On the other hand, the fire is burning along the ridge between the two states and if the wind hits just right, it could make a large run similar to the Saddle fire last year, he said.
“It’s got a lot of room to spread,” Floch said.
A red-flag warning was in effect Wednesday for parts of southeast Idaho with the potential of winds up to 50 mph.
The Divide Trail (Nos. 184 and 106) is closed. The public also is asked to avoid Mine Creek Road due to heavy fire traffic. On the Idaho side, portions of a number of trails are closed. For specific trail closure information, go to www.inciweb.org.
There are no structures threatened at this time.
An initial attack team of six firefighters put a containment line around a 1.5-acre lightning-caused fire south of Sula in the Dick Creek drainage.
On the Salmon-Challis National Forest over the border in Idaho, seven fires were reported Tuesday. Two of the seven were located and firefighters are working to contain those.
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