Fire crews contain Powerline Fire near Libby

SCOTT SHINDLEDECKER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 7 months AGO

Lincoln County Rural Fire District No. 1 fire crews douse a wildfire on Bobtail Road north of Libby Friday afternoon. A tree that downed a power line caused the blaze. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

A Minuteman helicopter dumps water on the Powerline Fire Friday afternoon on Bobtail Road north of Libby. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

Smoke pours off the Powerline Fire on Bobtail Road north of Libby Friday afternoon. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

Kootenai National Forest hand crews dig a line around the Powerline Fire on Bobtail Road north of Libby Friday afternoon. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

Lincoln County Rural Fire District No. 1 volunteer Kyle Keller watches as a downed power line arcs at the scene of a wildfire on Bobtail Road north of Libby Friday afternoon. A tree that downed the line caused the blaze. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

A Lincoln County Rural Fire District No. 1 firefighter douses a wildfire on Bobtail Road north of Libby Friday afternoon. A tree that downed a power line caused the blaze. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

Fire crews in the Intermountain West knew Friday could be an extremely hazardous one with red flag warnings due to gusty winds and low humidity.

But locally, fire crews banded together to knock down the Powerline Fire six miles up Bobtail Road before it became a threat to nearby residences, private and federal land.

It was listed as one-quarter of an acre and contained at about 5 p.m.

The call to respond came in at about 2 p.m. after a wind-felled tree knocked a power line to the ground. The arcing line and resulting sparks started a small wildfire on the east side of the road at the border of private and Kootenai National Forest land.

Volunteers from Lincoln County Rural Fire District No. 1 were on the scene first, pouring gallon after gallon of water on the fire. National forest crews worked to build lines around the fire and a Minuteman helicopter dumped a few good loads of water on it, too.

A Flathead Electric Co-op employee got the power off so firefighters could work without fear of the downed line inflicting more damage.

Libby Volunteer Fire Chief Steve Lauer said, in addition to the crews that teamed up to fight the fire, that forest management played a big role in the blaze not getting out of control.

“The logging job on private land adjacent to the fire kept it from being a lot bigger,” he said. “With the wind and conditions the way they were, if it would have been a thick, overgrown forest, things could’ve been much different.”

Fire crews also responded to another possible fire off Kootenai River Road shortly after 5 p.m. Friday but it turned out to be a false alarm.

The National Weather Service forecast in the region holds promise for rain on Tuesday with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms also possible after noon. The day is supposed to be mostly cloudy with a high near 82. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch are possible, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

A Minuteman helicopter dumps water on the Powerline Fire Friday afternoon on Bobtail Road north of Libby. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

Smoke pours off the Powerline Fire on Bobtail Road north of Libby Friday afternoon. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

Kootenai National Forest hand crews dig a line around the Powerline Fire on Bobtail Road north of Libby Friday afternoon. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)