The Bear Creek Fire near Spotted Bear swept through about eight miles of forest, jumped the South Fork River and grew from 465 to 17,755 acres in just a few hours Thursday afternoon.

The fire’s rampage torched vehicles, sheds and trailers at the Meadow Creek Trailhead, although livestock were rescued from the fire area.

The fire was sparked by lightning Aug. 12 and by Thursday morning had only burned about 465 acres in the Flathead National Forest several miles south of the Spotted Bear Ranger Station.

Then it erupted on Thursday, driven by rising temperatures and wind.

No one has been injured in the fire’s expansion, and the only threatened structure, the Meadow Creek pack bridge, has been outfitted with sprinklers and was untouched — despite the fire burning on both sides of the creek.

“What protected the bridge, it’s open around there, and as soon as crews were able to get into that area they started wetting it down with water from the engines,” fire spokesman Al Koss said.

The Trail Creek Fire, another lightning-caused fire south of the ranger station,  also was stirred up by the windy conditions Thursday, more than doubling to 8,463 acres from 3,500 acres.

Koss said firefighters were able to get about 70 livestock out of the Bear Creek Fire area unscathed, and wilderness rangers swept through trails to guide eight to 10 visitors to safety.

The fire has since slowed down but had still seen some activity Friday afternoon as it continued to move east.

“As the humidities dropped and the temperatures went up, the inversion broke,” Koss said of the fire’s run on Thursday. “It started building energy, it crossed Bunker Creek to the south and actually got into a place where the Late Creek Fire was burning and started burning in very thick timber on a north-facing slope ... As the fire started building and gaining momentum, it got more energy and started to move fast, and those winds really pushed it through that timber.”

Winds were gusting at about 30 to 35 miles in the area on Thursday.  

Koss said no suppression activities are being conducted aside from point protection, assessing where the fire is headed and what structures may be threatened. About 10 miles north of the fire front sits the Spotted Bear Lookout, and the Black Bear Cabin is about 10 miles south.

No structures are currently threatened, but forest officials are planning to wrap both structures in fire-resistant materials in the next couple days.

While the fire tore raced through the densely wooded area, Koss said that fuel reduction around the Meadow Creek outfitter corrals and Gorge Creek helped keep property damage to a minimum.

“There were approximately 15 vehicles from people recreating and all of those vehicles were spared,” he said. “That’s kind of neat to be able to see that that really worked — it met its intention of fuels reduction right there.”

Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.