Bridger Foothills Morning Update September 5 2020

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Publication Type: News Sat, 09/05/2020 - 12:00

Facebook: Custer Gallatin National Forest Twitter: @GallatinNF
Start date: September 4, 2020

Location: NE of Bozeman, MT, approx. 2.5 miles up from M parking lot, near Bridger Foothills Trail.

Cause: Under Investigation

Total Personnel: 110

Current Size: 400 acres

Containment: 0%

Hwy 86/Bridger Canyon Road is closed from the intersection of Story Mill/Bridger Canyon Road to Kelly Canyon/Bridger Canyon Road.

Local resident travel only permitted until further notice.

COVID hotline: 406-548-0123

Forest Area & Trail Closures: All trails from Middle Cottonwood up to Saddle Peak and tying in with Bridger Bowl's southern boundary and running south to the "M" parking lot are closed including:

Trail #586 (Middle Cottonwood), #513 (Bridger Ridge), #534 (Bridger Foothills), #531, (Sypes Canyon), #511 (M trails), #532 & #530 (Bridger Bowl up to Ridge),

#537 & #538 (Pine Creek - Bridger Bowl to South) are closed. Drinking Horse is closed,

Do not travel paved pathway along Bridger Canyon – it is in the closure area.

Resources Assigned: 2 large airtankers, 4 single engine air tankers, 4 helicopters dropping water and providing structure protection, Midnight Sun Interagency Hotshot Crew, smokejumpers, 1 type 2 handcrew, with additional crews, dozers and helicopters arriving this morning. Structure protection has been in place overnight and will continue through today from Bozeman Fire, Bridger Canyon Fire, Hyalite Fire and numerous local resources.

Current Status: The Bridger Foothills Fire burned actively Friday afternoon and evening in timber and is estimated at 400 acres. Gallatin County and Custer Gallatin National Forest personnel swept the fire area and trails to ensure all trail recreationists were safe. Structure protection is occurring on the eastern flank of the fire and will remain in place.

Planned Actions: The Bridger Foothills Fire is extremely visible from the entire Gallatin Valley. Expect aircraft to begin on the fire early. Firefighters are building fireline focused on the eastern flank of the fire, with structure protection in place. Additional handcrews will be utilized to further build fireline and air support utilized throughout the day. A small burnout operation was conducted last night to further secure fireline.

Weather: Saturday is a critical fire weather day with warm temperatures and low relative humidity expected. Winds are anticipated to be shifting 10-15 mph with gusts to 25 with a cold front passage around 6:00 p.m. this evening followed by cooling temps and another cold front Sunday. The Red Flag Warning is in effect from noon to midnight on Saturday. Cooler temps over the fire are expected by Monday.

-FS-

Bridger Foothills Fire Evening Update 900 pm September 4 2020

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Publication Type: News Fri, 09/04/2020 - 12:00

Start date: September 4, 2020

Location: NE of Bozeman, MT, approx. 2.5 miles up from M parking lot, near Bridger Foothills Trail.

Cause: Unknown, Under Investigation

Total Personnel: 100

Current Size: 80 acres

Containment: 0%

Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7144/

Hwy 86/Bridger Canyon Road is closed from the intersection of Story Mill/Bridger Canyon Road to Kelly Canyon/Bridger Canyon Road.

Local resident travel only permitted until further notice.

Forest Trail Closures: All trails from Middle Cottonwood up to Saddle Peak and tying in with Bridger Bowl's southern boundary and running south to the "M" parking lot are closed including trails:

Trail #586 (Middle Cottonwood), #513 (Bridger Ridge),

#534 (Bridger Foothills), #531, (Sypes Canyon),

#511 (M trails), #532 & #530 (Bridger Bowl up to Ridge),

#537 & #538 (Pine Creek - Bridger Bowl to South) are closed.

Resources Assigned: 2 large airtankers, 4 single engine air tankers, 4 helicopters dropping water and providing structure protection, 2 handcrews have arrived and are starting handline, smokejumpers and engine crews are on scene. Several handcrews are also on order and expected Saturday morning, along with two dozers and an additional helicopter. Firefighting resources will remain in place around structures overnight.

Current Status: The Bridger Foothills Fire burned actively Friday afternoon in timber and is estimated at 80 acres. Gallatin County and Custer Gallatin National Forest personnel swept the fire area and trails to ensure all trail recreationists were safe. Structure protection is occurring on the eastern flank of the fire and will remain in place.

Planned Actions: The Bridger Foothills Fire is very visible from the entire Gallatin Valley. Expect aircraft to begin on the fire early in the morning. Road and trail closures will remain in place until further notice. Please respect closures and allow firefighters and first responders to do their work. Firefighters have established handline and are utilizing rock outcroppings and natural barriers to further secure fireline.

Weather: Warm and dry temperatures today and are expected thru Saturday. A Red Flag Warning is in effect Saturday for high temperatures, low relative humidity, gusty winds and a cold front passage.

-FS-

Middle Cottonwood to Saddle Peak Bridger Bowl Boundary South Closed

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Publication Type: Closures Fri, 09/04/2020 - 12:00

Effective immediately - Bridger Foothills Fire

All trails from Middle Cottonwood up to Saddle Peak and tying in with Bridger Bowl's southern boundary and running south to the "M" parking lot are closed including trails:

Trail #586 (Middle Cottonwood), #513 (Bridger Ridge)/#534 (Bridger Foothills), Sypes #531, 511 (M shortcut), #532 & #530 (Bridger Bowl up to Ridge), #537 & #538 (Pine Creek - Bridger Bowl to South) are closed.

Bridger Foothills Fire Initial Attack News Release September 4 2020

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Publication Type: News Fri, 09/04/2020 - 12:00

For Immediate Release: September 4, 2020; 1700
Media Contact: Marna Daley, Mariah Leuschen-Lonergan

marna.daley@usda.gov; 406-570-5526

mariah.leuschen@usda.gov, 406-548-1174

Bridger Foothills Fire Burns near Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman, MT – The Bridger Foothills Fire, located just northeast of Bozeman, Montana was reported the afternoon of Friday, September 4, 2020. The fire is very visible from the Gallatin Valley and smoke is drifting into Bridger Canyon. Currently the “M” and Sypes Canyon Trailheads are closed and the Bridger Canyon Road from Bozeman to the junction with Jackson Creek Road is closed.

The fire, located about 2.5 miles up Bridger Foothills Trail, is actively burning in timber. It is currently estimated at 10 acres. Gallatin County is currently in the process of sweeping the area near the fire to evacuate recreationists.

Resources helping fight the Bridger Foothills Fire include 2 large airtankers, 4 single engine air tankers, and firefighters and smokejumpers. In addition, there are two helicopters dropping buckets of water on the fire to help slow fire spread.

The Incident Commander for the Bridger Foothills Fire is Mark Duffy, a West Yellowstone Smokejumper.

Effective Immediately M Sypes Canyon and Bridger Foothills Trails Closed

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Publication Type: Closures Fri, 09/04/2020 - 12:00

Effective Immediately M, Sypes Canyon and Bridger Foothills Trails Closed.

Fire is approximately six acres, but actively moving in timber upslope.

Hwy 86 is closed from M to Jackson Creek Road.
Please steer clear of the area and let responding resources do their job.

A burning seam of coal lit the 52010 acre Sarpy fire

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Publication Type: News Tue, 09/08/2020 - 12:00

Very likely on a dry, windy day last Wednesday, the Sarpy fire began when a coal seam, alight underground for possibly many years, ignited nearby brown grass. The fire cause will be confirmed Wednesday by an investigator, but “the point of origin leads directly to a coal seam,” said Acting FMO Tracy Spang. Northern Cheyenne folks know more than 80 occasionally-burning coal seams on their Reservation, lit from long-ago lightning or wildfire. Burning coal seams have caused fires for centuries and cannot be easily extinguished – the best way to prevent their wildfires is to remove each season of grass near them.

Helitack flew the Sarpy fire Tuesday to map hot spots and found snags (standing dead trees) and stumpholes still burning, all in the fire’s interior at least 150 feet from unburned grass. The fire is officially 90% contained Tuesday night, thanks to hard work and Monday’s rain. The gumbo roads were too muddy Tuesday to allow ground resources to operate safely. Two light engines and a water tender brought in for the incident will patrol and work the fire for up to another week, but most other non-local resources demob Wednesday after increased containment was verified today. Initial attack forces (such as three engines and a four-person module in Crow, and one engine and a four-person module in Pryor) have rested and will work fresh Wednesday to assist mop-up of the Sarpy fire... until the next fire: temperatures reach 91 in Crow next Monday. Dan Rasmussen of the BIA Rocky Mountain regional office will lead a BAER (Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation) team ordered for rehab of the fire area for both reservations. BAER teams are local natural resource specialists. Among other considerations, the team will assess archeological resources and potentially arrange reseeding grass by UTV when the snow flies. Until we get surprised, this is the last update for the Sarpy fire – more photos for that fire and and news of other local incidents will be posted at https://www.facebook.com/BIACrowAgency and https://www.facebook.com/BIANCAFireMgt

Were not out of the woods yet on the season

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Publication Type: News Mon, 09/07/2020 - 12:00

Lack of resources challenged management of the 52,010 acre Sarpy fire east of Hardin, but cooperating agencies saved the day by pitching in together. Several days of rehabilitation and mop-up remain on the fire even after rain Monday. BIA regional fire management officer Bryce Rogers said Monday rains “are not a season-ending event. We’re not out of the woods yet.”

Incident commander trainee Mario Pretty Boy said the south side of the fire toward Busby has many snags (burnt trees) hanging across the fireline and requires mop up more than fifteen feet in from the edge of the line. The Busby base camp will operate several more days as resources need to mop up and to rehabilitate firelines by removing dozer berms and reducing firefighting effects on the land. CDC (Centers for Disease Control), IHS and Northern Cheyenne Tribal Health officers checked on fire operations several days and approved of our COVID-19 protocols. Firefighters are “working together but separately, operating in pods,” said Adam Wolf, Northern Cheyenne fire management officer. “COVID is real; we don’t take it lightly,” added Tracy Spang, acting FMO at Crow Agency. Rogers said, “I want to thank both programs [Northern Cheyenne and Crow Agency fire] and all our cooperators for stepping up. As firefighters, we adapt. I appreciate the agencies coming together.” Wolf called the incident “a Type 2 fire with a cobbled-together Type 3 team. We really appreciate the support from the BIA regional office.” Incident commander trainee Colton Herrera Sr. thanks Big Horn County Rural Fire: “Matt [Redden, Fire Chief] and his crew have done an excellent job the whole time they were out here. They left us in good shape.” When the fire began Wednesday, Crow Agency had only two engines, a squad and a helitack module to respond. The fire burned about half on Crow and half on Northern Cheyenne lands, with some on state and BLM lands. Jurisdictional coordination was a challenge at first, but agencies worked together to fix problems in a unified command. Stakeholder meetings were tough to coordinate due to COVID-19, but a daily conference call with Tribes solved that. Northern Cheyenne Tribal Forestry could eventually plant up to 2 million trees on about 6500 acres of the burned lands, although some mature “seed” trees did not burn. The BIA is preparing reforestation maps. Professionals will also be working to identify and protect cultural resources in the burned areas. Preliminary costs for the 52,000-plus acre Sarpy fire are about $350,000, but should rise by about $100,000 when costs are added in of air tankers the first days. After Monday, dry weather returns with temperatures back above normal in the 80s by the weekend.

Initial attack and Sarpy crews primed for Red Flag

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Publication Type: News Sun, 09/06/2020 - 12:00

Fire danger registered Extreme at all six remote weather stations on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations Saturday evening. Our Red Flag warning continues until Sunday midnight for north winds gusting to 30 mph this afternoon.

The Sarpy fire continues to threaten about 100 structures based on expected winds today with incredibly fast fire movement in the dry grass. Remember this fire tore fifteen miles in just five hours Wednesday from a single point of flame.

Fire season will continue after rain on Labor Day. While 3/4” of rain should soak us Monday, our area can still see grass fires again by midweek. The National Weather Service warns “We should stress that after early Tuesday we do not see any precipitation for the foreseeable future. ... looks like a stagnant longwave pattern setting up” of dry weather. Grass can burn after just an hour back in the sun. Sunday is a balancing act of keeping resources working to stop the fire from racing to the east in Red Flag conditions, while preparing some to move elsewhere during Monday’s shot of rain. Efforts focus on mopping up smokes near the fire edges, but also on getting everyone working in the most useful locations, watered and fed, and ready for Monday’s rain or new assignment. Because mature ponderosa pines are thinned by frequent low grass fires, and as much of the fire area burned in 2012, some ponderosa groves in the Sarpy fire withstood the scurrying flames even as grass and brush was consumed. The fire is 50% contained as of Saturday night. In the face of COVID-19 and record fire weather, the unified command team (Crow and Northern Cheyenne BIA, Big Horn County, Northern Cheyenne Tribe and many cooperators) is thankful for all the community help and support that has enabled our successes so far. Community coordination helped this fire remain a locally managed (Type 3) incident, even while we conduct initial attack on more than 2.6 million acres of the two Reservations.

Sarpy firelines holding at 6 pm Saturday

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Publication Type: News Sat, 09/05/2020 - 12:00

Start date: September 2, 2020

Location: 20 miles east of Hardin, Mont.Cause: Undetermined, under investigationTotal Personnel: 163 Current Size: 51,981 acres Containment: About half of the fire, the less hot side, has fireline on it or has cooled. Resources Assigned: 4 crews, 8 engines, 5 water tenders, 3 graders, 3 dozers, and air support. A Northern Cheyenne 10-person squad is firefighting, as are camp crews from both Crow and Northern Cheyenne. On the Northern Cheyenne divisions, 5 engines, 2 dozers, 2 water tenders, and a crew were due to arrive Saturday. Current Status: Saturday has brought active fire behavior with single tree torching and short duration running fire. Threats remain to structures, agricultural lands, timber, and cultural resource values (cultural practice areas or archeological sites). Concerns include fatigue, dehydration, Covid-19 protocols, and smoke impacts to communities and health care facilities from the Sarpy and adjacent wildfires. “We continue appreciation for all the Tribal employees and team-minded public citizens who have gotten us to this point,” said Bobby Cooper, Assistant Fire Management Officer at Northern Cheyenne.

Planned Actions: Crews are continuing to strengthen containment lines in anticipation of the day and a half of red flag warning weather. Resources are arriving for extended attack to help in mop-up, so our initial responders can be ready for new fires. For example, two new fires of several hundred acres each sprouted in rural southeast Big Horn County about 2 p.m.

Weather: Crow Agency saw 103 degrees with gusts to 26 mph and a relative humidity of 7% at 4 pm: remarkable weather for September. Saturday and Sunday are critical fire weather days. Winds gust stronger during a cold front passage around 8:00 p.m. Saturday, followed by cooling temps and another cold front Sunday with breezy winds to 35 mph. The Red Flag Warning is in effect until midnight on Sunday. Much cooler temperatures are expected Monday.

# BIA #

Crews gird for crazy hot windy weather till Monday

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Publication Type: News Fri, 09/04/2020 - 12:00

Aircraft are dropping retardant and water then reloading for the roughly 50,000 acre Sarpy fire in eastern Big Horn County, Montana. Growing today in its northeast corner, the Sarpy fire has covered roughly 27,000 acres on the Crow Reservation, 20,000 acres on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, and some on state and federal land north of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. The fire will be remapped Friday evening. Smoke columns persist from fire activity in the northeast corner Friday, with activity expected through Friday night and two days of Red Flag warnings Saturday and Sunday.

A unified command of Crow Agency and Northern Cheyenne Bureau of Indian Affairs, Big Horn County Rural Fire, Northern Cheyenne Tribe agencies, and local ranchers are tackling this incident. “It’s an all-out effort by everybody,” said regional fuels specialist Bob Jones. Two SEATs (single-engine air tankers), and one heavy, one medium, and two light helicopters are busy ferrying retardant and water onto edges of the 78 square mile incident. A heavy air tanker did one drop but was diverted to a newer fire. Engines are remaining on the fire overnight for expected activity into Saturday morning. Ten engines and two hand crews were ordered to arrive Friday or Saturday. Seven engines and two tenders, a dozer and grader have arrived to assist dozers and graders on scene from Big Horn County and local ranchers. They should stir and mix that water to cool the fire. Because college and COVID-19 are challenging local firefighters, we have not brought on Crow or Northern Cheyenne crews, but more local tribal firefighters will be called in to assist on ground operations. Saturday’s Red Flag warning is for triple-digit high temperatures, parched single-digit humidities, and gusts to 30 mph as west winds move from the north with another dry cold front. The weekend weather is eerily similar to Wednesday when large blazes blew up across eastern Montana. The Red Flag lasts through Sunday night, when chill rain may come. “We don’t need another spark this weekend!” said Randy Pretty On Top, fuels specialist at Crow. A closed base camp at the Busby powwow grounds is resupplying firefighters. No visiting is allowed to this camp to prevent COVID-19. We very much appreciate the courtesy of the community of Busby and the cooperation of all people who have been helping out by taking care of each other and staying careful! The incident has had zero injuries so far.

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