Wind Whips Slash Fires Out Of Control In Montana

Nineteen fires, most of them slash fires from logging operations, were burning out of control Wednesday in northwestern Montana.

The Rogers Mountain fire, the biggest of the group at more than 350 acres, was burning through industrial timberland belonging to the Plum Creek Timber Co. about 50 miles west of Kalispell near Montana 2.

“Right now, we’re hoping to contain this thing by the end of the weekend,” said Eric Kurtz, a fire management specialist with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. “It all depends if we get a wind event.”

At least 50 personnel were assigned to the Rogers Mountain site and six 20-man hand crews have been called in to assist, Kurtz said.

There have been no injuries and no structures are threatened, he added.

“On top of this big one, we’ve got a whole bunch of other ones going on,” Kurtz said. He said a total of 18 other fires, ranging in size from a half-acre to more than 50 acres, were burning in the Kalispell and Stillwater units of the DNRC.

Most of these fires, he said, originated as slash fires, and most are burning on Plum Creek property.

Kurtz said high winds on Sunday blew a Plum Creek slash fire out of control and into the “type-2” blaze now known as the Rogers Mountain fire.

Timber companies traditionally burn their slash piles at this time of year. The jolt of warm temperatures Sunday, combined with high winds, accelerated many of the debris burns, Kurtz said.

Two helicopters doused the Rogers Mountain fire Wednesday, after tankers dropped retardant Tuesday afternoon.