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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Wildfire nears 6,000 acres

Blaze moving fast outside Montana town

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press

RED LODGE, Mont. – Airplanes and helicopters dumped fire retardant and water on a fast-growing canyon fire outside this ski town Monday, trying to corral a blaze that was eating through blown-down timber and heavy lodgepole stands.

Pillows of dark smoke piled up to the ridgeline on either side of the canyon. Flames could be seen shooting skyward as tree crowns were engulfed. Where the blaze had already passed, all that remained were the blackened skeletons of thousands of trees.

Jeff Gildehaus, a fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service, said the fire was putting up a pretty good column of smoke Monday evening.

“The way the column is cranking up right now, it’s going to be 6,000-some (acres) by tomorrow morning, if not more,” he said.

Strong winds forecast for today threaten to push the fire toward a ski hill and dozens of homes. Late Monday, air tankers dumped fire retardant to slow the blaze’s advance toward the ski area.

Red Lodge Fire Chief Tom Kuntz warned that if the fire blows out of the canyon, his crews might not be able to protect at least 90 homes in the Grizzly Peaks subdivision, which was evacuated Sunday.

With only one road in and the subdivision thick with trees, Kuntz said it could prove too risky.

“The worst-case scenario is a real possibility. And in the worst-case scenario, we can’t put anybody on it in there,” he said.

Five summer cabins have already burned in the Cascade fire. The owner of one, Jim Moore, said his cabin was closest to where the fire began Saturday.

“It was doomed from the beginning,” he said. “I’m sure it was in ashes before the fire trucks even hit the Forest Service boundary.”

Approximately 280 firefighters and support personnel had arrived by late Monday to battle the blaze. Four air tankers dropped fire retardant on the flanks of the fire, while five helicopters dropped water.

At least one 20-man crew was airlifted to the back side of the fire to begin setting up a perimeter.

At Red Lodge Mountain Resort, employees were running at least eight snowmaking guns Monday to spray water on its two lodges and several lift shacks to help protect the area.

“The ski area is a very high priority for everyone involved,” Kuntz said. “It’s a significant economic driver for the community six months out of the year. By keeping the ski area viable, we keep the community viable.”

The snowmaking guns draw water from ponds near the top of the mountain.

In the Tipi Village subdivision, about five miles from the fire, homeowner Kyle Tompkins was ready Monday for a quick evacuation if the blaze moved his way.

“I did wet the grass a little bit, but what can you do?” asked Tompkins, 47, who works from a home office. “If it’s time, there’s not much a garden hose is going to do.”

Tompkins said he and others in Tipi Village had expected that a major fire in the mountains above their homes was “just a matter of time.”