Fire, forest and emergency officials provided cautious optimism during a community update on the Skillet Fire at the Olney firehouse Tuesday evening. 

As of Wednesday, one week after it started with a lightning strike, the Skillet Fire was 2,870 acres and 0% contained.  

An estimated $3,883,135 has been spent fighting the fire west of Olney. There are over 350 crew members. There are 10 engines and four helicopters.  

Evacuations were ordered for the Good Creek/Alder Creek areas last week. Loggers have also been impacted. 

Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino said he orders evacuations sooner rather than later.  

"You'll notice the evacuation warning came in pretty quick," Heino said. "I want to give you as much time to make those decisions."

"When wind hits mountain ranges, we don't always know which direction the channel of that wind is going to be," Heino said. "We were seeing different things across the country; Washington blowing up; we took it very seriously." 

Once evacuations are ordered, law enforcement is stationed in the area 24/7, for information and to keep "riff-raff" out, ensuring safety of evacuated homes, Heino said.  

He said people may notice pumps staged as precautionary measures.  

"We're trying to create zones of protection to prevent this fire from coming into those structural areas," Heino said. "The other balancing act I have is, Good Creek Road is not exactly a highway." 

Crews are working towards gaining containment, creating fire line to tie into the East Fork Fire burn scar to the north. Firefighters will continue building line in the Alder Creek, Martin Creek and Robertson Creek areas to secure the southern and eastern perimeters.  

On Wednesday, firefighters were expected to conduct a burnout in the Twin Meadows area. 

"There are 145 large fires in the country and nearly 30,000 firefighters across the country," said Mike Johnston, incident commander. "There are 38 national complex incident management teams. The day we were ordered, we were the only one available that day. 

"The resources are challenging, but we're getting enough to do what we need to do.” 

Johnston of Great Basin Incident Management Team 7 said they brought about 100 crew members from near and far to the Skillet Fire.  

Fire officials said the fuels are dense and the landscape steep, with blowdown from December 2025.  

"The fire is going to be on the landscape for a while. We'll have to stay diligent," Johnston said. "But as long as Mother Nature cooperates – she always gets the final say – and hopefully no major wind events, we'll hopefully have this boxed in."

Officials said they anticipate starting to box in over the next few days. 

Tally Lake Ranger District deserves credit for fuels treatment, creating opportunities to fight this fire in the first place, said Lincoln Chute, Flathead County fire service area manager.  

"That's mitigation," he said. "This is our typical wildland fire season in northwest Montana. We have all of August and September. Nationally, there are very limited resources left. There are no incident management teams left. So, we really need to do everything we can to prevent human caused fires."  

Fire officials remind community members that it's not too late to prepare their properties and to ask local fire agencies and organizations questions as needed. A list of resources can be found at https://www.firesafeflathead.com/resources


See Thursday, Aug. 6 update at Crews gain some containment on Skillet Fire | Whitefish Pilot