Fighting Fire With Fire In Montana

As evacuations from Glacier National Park continued, firefighters were preparing for another defensive backburn to divert a wildfire away from a cabin-studded village and tourist areas.

Evacuation orders went out for people who live in and around the town of West Glacier, Montana, as the wildfire made a huge run Monday and is now threatening to burn through the town.

Firefighters said the evacuation orders impacted about 400 people and added that if the fire does make it to the town, several hundred homes could be destroyed.

Sirens screamed Monday evening, warning the residents, tourists and remaining National Park Service personnel at headquarters to evacuate, mostly because the fire was threatening to dip down the forested slopes and seal off U.S. Highway 2, a main escape route.

A steady stream of cars, trailers and buses made a slow exodus from the area, often at 15 mph in a 55 mph zone with smoke plumes from the 10,175-acre fire rising thousands of feet.

The fire's run late Monday, spurred by 90-degree temperatures and increasing winds, prompted a national fire control team to order a series of small burnouts that succeeded in turning the main blaze to the north, away from developed areas.

Officials say fire conditions in the region are the worst they've been in 42-years.

A larger backburn was planned for Tuesday, if weather and other conditions permit.

Joe Stam, commander of an elite Alaskan team of firefighting strategists, said burnouts deprive a fire of fuel and can be used to sometimes change its course.

By Monday night, the fire had raced up to Apgar Lookout, where firefighters dumped retardant on the lookout all afternoon, but the park's major communications hub was not damaged.

Information officer Kris Eriksen said there was little choice but to start the backburn. She said the effort was successful, and the main fire calmed by nightfall.

By then, Ronnie Medrano, water hose in hand, was drenching his family's business and his house with water.

"I'm going to flood the driveway," he said. "I'm going to flood everything. We've got to protect our home."

His home and niece's business, the Heaven's Peak Restaurant, are along U.S. 2 with a panoramic view of Apgar Lookout, where the fire was spitting flames into the air.

"We have to save it. It's a $3 million building," he said.

Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont said the evacuation order affected more than 400 homes and businesses in the area. While it was being called mandatory, Dupont said authorities were not forcing people from their homes.

"We make it very clear that staying is at your risk and when the fire is knocking at your porch, we may not be there to rescue you," he said.

The American Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at the North Valley Hospital in Whitefish where residents were advised to seek shelter.

An even larger blaze was burning 19,667 acres in the northwest corner of Glacier, just six miles south of the Canadian border, and firefighters there were changing strategies.

"They are kind of going into an offensive mode instead of a defensive," said Mike McConnell, an information officer.

That fire had burned six dwellings and 19 outbuildings. About 100 homes and cabins still are threatened. A third wildfire has burned 16,500 acres inside the park in a remote area north of Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Combined, the fires burning in and just outside Glacier are nearing 50,000 acres, with about 2,000 firefighters in three fire camps.

The National Interagency Fire Center said weather conditions across the West were expected to be warmer and drier this week, a forecast that could lead to more intensive fire activity.

Elsewhere, investigators said two firefighters who died last week while battling an Idaho wildfire did not use their portable fire shelters. The shelters are small tent-like fire-resistant sheaths that firefighters can use for protection if they cannot escape flames. A full investigation could take weeks.

Federal charges were filed Monday in Salt Lake City against a homeless man who allegedly told authorities he started a wildfire so he could get arrested and have shelter. The July 10 fire charred 1,935 acres of Forest Service land east of Farmington, Utah. Heinz Josef Bruhl, 33, could face 5 to 20 years in prison if convicted of malicious destruction of federal property.

Fires also were active Monday in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, the National Interagency Fire Center reported.