Anatomy Of A Wildfire: Licking the Lick Creek Fire

We first blogged the Lick Creek fire on Tuesday. Lightening from a rapidly passing afternoon thunderstorm had struck and ignited the forest a mile or two north of Hyalite Reservoir. This is an active area frequented by hikers, bikers, campers and water sports enthusiasts, so the fire was spotted immediately and resources deployed. We reported that authorities take fires which start in this area very seriously because the drainage is source of much of Bozeman's drinking water. We can track the fire and the institutional response through something called the incident response system, operated by the US Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture.

The fire was initially reported on Tuesday, thus, by the Forest Service:

Fire in Hyalite, Lick Creek Fire, Resources on Scene

Incident: Lick Creek Fire Wildfire
Released: 3 days ago

Bozeman, MT –The Custer Gallatin National Forests has confirmed one fire in Hyalite, in the vicinity of Lick Creek, north of the trail. Resources are enroute including a full load of smokejumpers and Engine 661 with two firefighters, from Bozeman Ranger District are hiking into the fire. The fire is located along the ridgetop burning in timber.

Fire Name: Lick Creek Fire

Date Detected: July 29, 2014

Cause: Unknown

Location: Hyalite Canyon, North of Lick Creek Trail along the ridgetop. T4S, R6E, Sec 3

Current Size: 1/2 acre with multiple spots

Resources Assigned: Engine 661 with 2 firefighters, 8 smokejumpers, 2 helicopters requested

Current Status: Smokejumpers jumped the fire at approximately 3:20 p.m., an additional engine crew with two firefighters are hiking into the fire. Currently the fire is burning along the ridgetop.

Closures: No closures in effect

Remarks: No structures currently threatened.

Section 3 is about a mile and one half north of the reservoir, marked as square number three on this Forest Service winter recreation trail map.  

Don't let those green, blue and red lines fool you (the red numbers are distances in miles). This is wild, mountainous, undeveloped country. The sections designated as City of Bozeman Land reflect holdings the city has accrued to secure to its water rights.  Here is the satellite map version, from Google Maps.

Initially, a smoke plume was visible from miles away.

US Forest Service Photo, looking south from Gallitan Valley, about 10 miles distant.

Immediate assignment of a crew of that size is a big commitment for a small fire, reflecting both the sensitivity of the location and that there were no other nearby fires requiring resources. The cause was later determined to be natural (lightening).

A local TV station reported on the fire. The news video shows smoke curling out of the forest, a helicopter patrolling the area, and then the helicopter dropping water on the flames to keep the fire under control. The nearby reservoir facilitated the dripping and dropping.

ABC FOX MONTANA NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS - KTMF/KWYB

And ABC's web report.

 

Wildfire 2014

BOZEMAN -Another wildfire is reported Tuesday in Montana, this time in Hyalite Canyon.

The Bozeman Ranger District quickly dispatched crews to the scene after it was called in around 2:15 p.m.

Fred Jones of the Custer Gallatin Forest said, "We responded with 8 smokejumpers, 4 repellers and 4 firefighters from district for a total of 16 folks up there working on the fire."

The fire that is said to have been started by a lighting strike is located along the ridge top just north of the Lick Creek Trailhead.

"0.6 of an acre burning in mixed conifer a lot of heavy standing material so they have to watch out for snags up there,” said Jones.

At this point, Jones says no standing structures are in harms way.

"There is nothing threatened at this time," said Jones.

In addition to the 16 crew members on the ground fighting this fire, a helicopter is providing aid with a water bucket. Jones says there is no major concern with this fire and expects it to be secure by Wednesday morning.

"By the time they get done with the water buckets tonight they should have it pretty secure by morning," said Jones.

Officials do not have containment information at this time.

Here is NBC's still shot, showing smoke still wafting above the trees after the initial drop.

And another, from the Forest Service, showing a helicopter above the reservoir. Note that the reservoir is still full up, unusual for August and indicative of the snowpack and then rain we've gotten this year.



Day two, the Forest Service reported as follows:

Hyalite, Lick Creek Fire, Minimal Activity
Incident: Lick Creek Fire Wildfire
Released: 1 day ago
There are no impacts from the fire to recreationalists in the area.Construction Traffic is in the area, updates at www.fs.usda.gov/gallatin under Alerts & NoticesBozeman, MT – Current Status: Firefighters worked the Lick Creek Fire into the evening hours on Tuesday, including several water drops from a helicopter. Wednesday morning fire personnel on the line reported minimal fire activity and smokes. Sixteen firefighters will be on the fire throughout the day working to ensure containment around the fire and search out any remaining heat. There has been no new size growth overnight and air resources will remain available to firefighters if there is a need throughout the day. Fire Name: Lick Creek FireDate Detected: July 29, 2014Cause: LightningLocation: Hyalite Canyon, North of Lick Creek Trail along the ridgetop. T4S, R6E, Sec 3Current Size: 0.6 acres (with multiple spots)Resources Assigned: 16 firefighters: Engine 661 with 4 firefighters, 8 smokejumpers, 4 heli-rappellers
Closures: No closures in effectRemarks: No structures currently threatened.

I heard from people who had been up the canyon on Wednesday afternoon, that smoke was no longer visible. The next official report is the fire was contained as of Wednesday afternoon. 

Incident Overview

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Bozeman, MT – Current Status: This fire is currently contained as of Wednesday afternoon.Firefighters worked the Lick Creek Fire into the evening hours on Tuesday, including several water drops from a helicopter. Wednesday morning fire personnel on the line reported minimal fire activity and smokes. Sixteen firefighters will be on the fire throughout the day working to ensure containment around the fire and search out any remaining heat. There has been no new size growth overnight and air resources will remain available to firefighters if there is a need throughout the day. 

Fire Name: Lick Creek Fire

Date Detected: July 29, 2014

Cause: Lightning

Location: Hyalite Canyon, North of Lick Creek Trail along the ridgetop. T4S, R6E, Sec 3

Current Size: 0.6 acres (with multiple spots)

Resources Assigned: 8 smokejumpers

Closures: No closures in effect

Remarks: No structures currently threatened.

Containment means this is almost certainly the last report. If this were an active fire season, all but a couple of the crew would have been reassigned Wednesday to other blazes. 

(8/5/2014) There was one final report:

Bozeman, MT – Current Status: This fire is currently controlled and was declaired out as of Thursday July 31, 2014 at 12:51 P.M. 

Name: Lick Creek Fire

Date Detected: July 29, 2014

Cause: Lightning

Location: Hyalite Canyon, North of Lick Creek Trail along the ridgetop. T4S, R6E, Sec 3

Final Size: 0.6 acres (with multiple spots)

For comparison, in 2013 the Miner complex fire burned nearby in Paradise Valley, burning 11,489 acres overall. The largest blaze in the complex was the Emigrant fire.

Location:  Sheep Fire in Tom Miner Basin, North Eightmile and Horsetail fires along Gallatin Crest, Emigrant Fire – 8 miles south of Emigrant
Combined Current Size:  Approximately 11,849 acres, 4 fires            OverallContainment: 28% as of August 16.
Emigrant Fire: Approximately 10,722 acres, Sheep Fire: Approximately 570 acres, North Eightmile Fire: Approximately 414 acres, Horsetail Fire:  Approximately 143 acres.Resources Assigned: 3 Hotshot crews, 8 20-person crews, 4 helicopters, 12 engines, 1 skidgen, and 1 excavator.
Total personnel:  419
FIRE UPDATE:Fire activity was moderate yesterday and firefighters had a quiet day as they worked to secure edges of the fire and continued to mop up more areas along the fires’ perimeters.
FIRE NAME:  Emigrant Fire
 DATE OF DETECTION:  July 21, 2013
CAUSE:  Lightning
CURRENT SIZE:  approximately 10,722 acres

During 2012, just south of the reservoir, the Millie fire grew explosively to 10,000 acres.

Millie Fire south of Bozeman explodes to 10,000 acres

The Millie Fire south of Bozeman exploded to an estimated 10,000 acres on Wednesday, making a run to the north-northeast.

The lightning-sparked fire was triggered late Tuesday and is burning in the Storm Castle and Rat Lake area, about 18 to 20 miles south of Bozeman.

Helicopters dipping from Rat Lake worked the west flank of the fire on Wednesday, along with slurry bombers.

The U.S. Forest Service has closed both the South Cottonwood Drainage Trail and the Blackmore Trail out of the Hyalite Drainage as a precaution.

There was no mistaking the Millie fire smoke plume, from 10, 15 and even 20 miles around.

Aerial Millie fire photo, August 29, 2012, Bozeman Chronicle.

Millie Fire, August 29, 2012., KXIH News.

Here is a map of the Millie fire, its area outlined in red.

The Hyalite Reservoir is about three miles northeast of the Millie, within the yellow line (which demarcated the area closed to public access when the fire was active).  The fire was held to sixteen square miles total, its further northeast progress stopped by encountering a ridge and controlled by countless water drops from the reservoir.

So far, the fire season in our part of Montana has been pretty much a non event. If we make it another three weeks or so, we should be free and clear for 2014.