Firefighters get Plains wildfire under control

SCOTT SHINDLEDECKER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 2 months AGO

A Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation bulldozer works to build fire lines in the Henry Creek drainage in Sanders County Tuesday. Officials said the 40-acre blaze burned through mostly grass and dead timber from the 1998 Boyer Creek Fire. (Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service)

A Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation helicopter dropped water on the Henry Creek Fire in Sanders County Tuesday. Officials said the 40-acre blaze was in mop-up mode Wednesday. (Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service)

Smoke envelopes the area where the 40-acre Henry Creek fire burned Tuesday in Sanders County. Officials said the 40-acre blaze burned through mostly grass and dead timber left from the 1998 Boyer Creek Fire. (Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service)

Western Montana firefighters are doing mop up work on a 40-acre wildfire that occurred Tuesday afternoon in the Henry Creek drainage, about 5 miles east of Plains, on the Lolo National Forest.

According to information from Doug Browning, the fire management officer with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s Plains office, about 50 firefighters and equipment from Montana DNRC, U.S. Forest Service, Lolo National Forest Hotshots, Plains/Thompson Falls and St. Regis/9-Mile Ranger Districts, had the blaze mostly contained as of 7 a.m. Wednesday.

“The call came in Monday evening and a few crew members got up there just as it got dark,” Browning said. “Tuesday morning, a dozer was up there and we had about 15 firefighters building line, but the wind got a hold of it and it grew quickly.”

Another bulldozer was brought in to build a fire line and a DNRC helicopter from Helena dropped water it pulled from the Clark Fork River on the fire. Strong winds drove the fire Tuesday afternoon, but officials said no structures were threatened. Browning said the fire burned in an area where the 1998 Boyer Fire burned acreage. It left grass from 6 inches to 3 feet in height and the dead trees from the fire created the fuel source.

A cause has not been determined for the fire, which was located about 2 miles behind a U.S. Forest Service gate. Browning said the fire’s cause is under investigation.

A second fire in the county was on patrol status as of Wednesday morning. A small, one-half acre blaze burned on the west end of Eddy Flat, just off Montana 200, halfway between Plains and Thompson Falls.

A cause has not been determined for the fire.

Montana’s open burn season ends April 30 and after that, permits will be required to burn.

Browning recommended not burning when it’s windy.

“People need to check the forecast, see what it’s like when they decide to burn when it’s windy,” he said.

Browning said the department will issue additional fire permits, but he said there needs to be more discussion with county, tribal, state and federal agencies if the dry and windy conditions persist.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.