Part of I-90 opens as fires rage

ALBERTON, Mont. – A series of human-caused fires continued burning Friday along Interstate 90, which was closed along a 90-mile stretch in western Montana because of dense smoke and firefighting activity.

Both directions of I-90 were closed starting Thursday evening. And while the eastbound lanes reopened Friday night, the westbound lanes remained closed from just west of Missoula to St. Regis, about 30 miles east of the Montana-Idaho border.

Traffic was rerouted over state Highway 200.

On average, more than 7,000 vehicles pass through the St. Regis area on I-90 each day, said Charity Watt Levis, a spokeswoman for the Montana Department of Transportation.

Traffic has been heavy through Muralt’s Travel Plaza, located at the beginning of the detour west of Missoula.

“People aren’t complaining, but there are a lot of questions on how to get to the detour,” said employee Daren Dougherty.

Late Friday, a fire official said an estimated 7,000 acres had burned.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Friday closed 20 miles of the Clark Fork River to public use because helicopters with 500-gallon buckets were scooping water from the river to help fight the fires. The U.S. Forest Service requested the closure order.

Forests were scarred in the Alberton Gorge stretch of the Clark Fork River, which is popular with whitewater rafters throughout the region.

Officials said they were still investigating the cause of the fires but that they may have been caused by arson or a vehicle dragging something that emitted sparks.

“This absolutely wasn’t an act of God,” said fire spokesman Scott Waldron.

Flames from the fires that erupted along the highway late Thursday burned right to the Alberton town line. Sharon Sweeney, a spokeswoman with the Lolo National Forest, said firefighters saved all but one building – a 7,000-square-foot shop containing vintage cars, tools and antiques.

Officials credited quick action by local fire crews with saving dozens of houses in this community of 400 people some 28 miles west of Missoula.

There were no reports of injuries and no other immediate reports of any significant damage, she said.

Elsewhere in western Montana, the Rockin fire in a wilderness portion of the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula blew up to at least 1,400 acres Friday, “and it’s continuing to grow,” said Christine Romero, fire information officer. It had been 50 acres on Thursday.

She said the fire was burning to the east in rugged, steep mountains. Three other fires are burning in the area, but the Rockin is the largest.

It was being allowed to burn, but Romero said firefighters may have to be assigned if it moves out of the wilderness into nearby public forest lands.

A number of other new fires also were reported Friday in the Bitterroot Valley, all of them holdovers from a lightning storm earlier in the week, officials said.

Washington

Fire bosses hoped light winds would allow firefighters to rein in several fires burning in the Cascade Range on Friday.

The largest blaze, the 965-acre Dirtyface fire above Lake Wenatchee, remained 35 percent contained, but the weather was favorable, said Roland Emetaz, spokesman for the Central Washington Area Incident Management Team.

Although temperatures were climbing into the 90s, relative humidity was low and winds were light, helping nearly 700 firefighters to make progress, Emetaz said.

“The weather is on our side,” he said, adding full containment is expected by next Wednesday if favorable conditions continue. The fire is about 10 miles northeast of Stevens Pass and 18 miles northwest of Leavenworth.

Fire engines brought from Western Washington fire departments to protect about 140 homes threatened by the fire were being sent home Friday, Emetaz said. Wildland fire engines remained to provide protection to residences, which were subject to evacuation orders earlier in the week, he said.

Meanwhile a fire that started on private property Thursday about six miles north of Cle Elum continued to burn out of control after scorching more than 400 acres of logging debris, brush, timber and grass, spokesman Dale Warriner said.

Officials closed the 29 Pines campground in the Teanaway area. It was not immediately known how many people were staying at the campground. There were no reported injuries, Warriner said.

The cause was under investigation. The fire was being fought by about 100 firefighters and 200 more were on the way, Warriner said.

In the North Cascades National Park, the Shady fire remained at a little more than 100 acres.

It was about 85 percent contained, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho reported.

More than 85 firefighters were assigned to the fire, about 12 miles northwest of Stehekin.

The fire was believed to have been caused by a person. No injuries were reported.