Montana Hams Stand Down, Remain on Alert as Montana Wildfires Continue
 As seen from space: A
view of Glacier National Park in Montana as seen by the crew of the
International Space Station some 240 miles above Earth. The area visible is
north of Flathead Lake on the southern flank of the Apgar Mountains, just
across the Flathead River. [NASA Photo]
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NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 11, 2003--ARRL Montana Section Emergency Coordinator Jim Fuller, N7VMR, reports that Flathead County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) members have been released from duty for the Robert Fire. The blaze, which began July 23 in Flathead National Forest, covers more than 24,400 acres and is now 58 percent contained. Five small new fires were reported this week in Montana
Ross and a crew of five ARES members had been supporting the Office of Emergency Service (OES) and the Flathead County Disaster Care Unit. In addition to maintaining communication between the OES and Red Cross shelters, they'd handled weather and smoke reports, assisted in the demobilization of the county command center at West Glacier and relayed official information from the OES.
Meanwhile, Fuller says, the Hobble Fire burned around the site of the N7VMR Greycliff repeater (147.28 MHz). "The site is intact and running on generator power," Fuller said. He noted that Ric Helvey, KB7KB, would be assessing the damage for Northwestern Power Company.
Fuller said that while the 147.28 machine and the Montana Repeater Link is operational from Billings to Cardwell, the Helena W7MRI 145.45 repeater is off the air, due possibly to lightning or fire near the site. Fuller said that so far, no ARES assistance has been needed for the Hobble Fire, but that could change if the fire moves on the Reed Point area.
At this point, 50 residences have been evacuated and one shelter has been opened for the Hobble Fire, which covers some 10,000 acres and is totally uncontained. Structure protection is in place for 70 residences. Five outbuilding were confirmed lost, according to information from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).
"The fires in the Bitterroot area may generate a request for assistance, also," Fuller said. The Big Creek Fire in the Bitterroot National Forest--some 1400 acres and nearly fully contained--is burning four miles northwest of Victor, while the Gold 1 fire--a new 300-acre blaze and zero percent contained--is nine miles northeast of Corvallis. The Beaver Lake Fire some 19 miles southwest of Missoula in the Clearwater National Forest is at 900 acres and zero percent contained. The fire has closed the Lolo Motorway.
"A red flag warning for gusty winds and low humidity is in effect for portions of Idaho and Montana," the NIFC says. "Fire weather watches for gusty wind, low humidity and isolated dry lightning are in place for southwestern Montana. So-called "dry lightning" occurs when precipitation from thunderstorms evaporates before it hits the ground. Cooler, moist weather over the August 2-3 weekend had ameliorated the fire situation.
Page last modified: 08:10 AM, 13 Aug 2003 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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