Mont.: Danger from I-90 fires is passed, officials say

The Associated Press

ALBERTON, Mont.— The fires still burning along Montana’s Interstate 90 corridor likely will continue putting up “smokes” for weeks, but the danger has passed, the fire commander says.

The 11,000-acre I-90 complex is 80 percent contained and full containment was predicted by Thursday, despite continuing fire activity within the lines.

“You’ll be eating Christmas dinner thinking, ‘Is this fire out yet?’” incident commander Bob Sandman told residents here Monday evening, during the final town meeting before his special fire-management crew prepared to leave.

Until there are season-ending rainstorms, “we’ll have smokes popping up,” said Garry Edson, a ranger in the Lolo National Forest .

Tom Rhode, fire information officer, said there is a red flag warning for Tuesday, with winds of 10 mph to 20 mph, gusting to 20 mph to 30 mph, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“That’ll be the first test of our containment lines,” he said. “Primarily today we’re doing rehab, patrol and mopup of the lines.”

The Tarkio and West Mountain fires, which burned together earlier, became the most troublesome of more than 20 separate fires that broke out along the highway the evening of Aug. 4.

Fire investigators can’t rule out arson, but so far all the evidence shows arson is unlikely, said Laura Mark, assistant special agent for the U.S. Forest Service and an investigator on the case.

Mark said the series of fires probably started from a malfunctioning vehicle, possibly one spewing bits of carbon from a catalytic converter or a diesel engine with a bad valve. A man from Washington state was being questioned about the fires. He is not a suspect and was unaware of the fires until a brother in Missoula called to tell him he was being sought.

Even with the man’s eyewitness account, fire investigators are still seeking witnesses and need more details about what happened, Mark said.

With calm, cooler weather in recent days, fire crews had made major progress, said Sharon Sweeney, fire information officer.

“We’re digging fire lines like crazy,” she said Monday. “The humidity is up. That’s a good thing. There’s not a lot of aggressive fire behavior (Monday), which is really good. It’s just excellent mop up conditions for the firefighters.”

Nearly 800 firefighters remained on scene Tuesday and suppression costs to date were estimated at $7.1 million, officials said.

Near Superior , west of the I-90 fire area, officials said crews were making progress in fighting the 3,100-acre Prospect fire, which still has nearly 500 firefighters on the lines. The fire was 15 percent contained Tuesday, with full containment estimated for Aug. 30.

“Objectives for today are to keep the fire in place with air support and see what Mother Nature gives us today and tomorrow,” said Gary Weber, operations section chief. “We will try to take advantage of it.”

Elsewhere in Montana , a fire in the Bitterroot Valley kicked up, nearly doubling to 870 acres by Tuesday morning. Officials said the Signal Rock fire, burning in a remote, heavily wooded area about 40 miles southeast of Hamilton , is now included in the Rockin’ Complex.

The Rockin’ fire is 65 percent contained at 3,800 acres, while the CB Ranch fire is fully contained at 1,700 acres.

“This will be an active burning day,” said Irv Leach, operations section chief. “With hot temperatures and low humidity, we expect unburned pockets of vegetation in the Rockin’ fire to continue burning.”