The news, for a change, was good.
A heavy inversion of smoke and little wind gave firefighters a chance Sunday to take their battle to the head of the 18,000-acre Jocko Lakes fire.
Forest Service fire behavior scientist Michael Dardis said the fire is burning through heavy fuels and deadfall, with critical low fuel moisture content.
“Everything within the fuel profile is available to burn,” Dardis said.
On Saturday, heavy winds caused the fire to spot up to 1 1/2 miles ahead.
On Sunday, heavy smoke slowed the fire enough that crews could build line directly against the head of the blaze.
John Fabro, operations chief, said typically firefighters start from the back of a fire and build lines around its flanks.
“If we’d done that here, we would have started back almost to Arlee,” Fabro said. “This tactic will work for a while n if the weather holds.”
Fabro expects to see people and equipment arriving soon to help fight the fire.
Monday will be a really important day, said incident commander Glen McNitt. On Tuesday, winds are expected to roar back to life, similar to what occurred Saturday.
“We want to stop the fire from going into Seeley Lake,” McNitt said. “If we can’t stop it, then we’ll try to deflect it around the town.”
That was only part of the story residents of the Seeley Lake area heard, though.
They learned that some of their neighbors had probably lost homes and other structures when the fire blew up Saturday afternoon.
They learned that if Mother Nature would cooperate, firefighters could have this blaze corralled in a couple of weeks. If she doesn’t, it will likely burn until the snow flies.
And they heard that people in other communities care. Seeley Lake Fire Chief Frank Maredeo told his neighbors and friends he made one phone call Saturday night, and fire departments from Florence, Missoula and other western Montana towns sent engines to help.
“It was rather impressive to me that you could make one phone call and have that many show up to help,” Maredeo said.
Local fire department personnel were just as giving. “There are a lot of tired people in this community tonight,” Maredeo said. “Our volunteers worked 36 hours straight. Many of them evacuated their families, and then came right back to work. They were remarkable.
“That’s been the story of this community through this trial by fire.”
Bruce and Kelly Wold were among those evacuated from their home Saturday night. They simply pulled their motorhome up to the grocery store they own in Seeley Lake and kept its doors open around the clock.
Vicki Voegelin of Little Bird Schoolhouse was preparing a meal for 250 for Clearwater River Realty when the fire flared Saturday afternoon. Two of the real estate agents were volunteer firefighters.
When the party was canceled, Voegelin and some friends finished the food preparation and sent it along to fire crews.
“We’re all exhausted, we’re all sick,” Voegelin said Sunday night. “I think it’s the anxiety and the smoke. There was no way we were going to have a party when the town was about to burn. It was a pretty easy decision: Let’s turn this into something good.”
Dee Schmitz watched embers the size of maple leaves rain down on her home miles from the fire front. The situation was frightening enough Saturday night that she and her family loaded up in their camper and joined many others at Clearwater Junction.
“There were probably a couple of hundred rigs there when we pulled in,” said her husband, Ken. “There was hardly a place to park.”
Curtis Gehrke has lived in Seeley Lake since 1968. He’s never seen a fire this big, this close to town.
Gehrke packed his horses and hauled them to Helmville.
“This fire got started in just the right place, and now it has the town in its sights,” he said. “We just have to hope it doesn’t keep coming. When you see something burn that many acres in one day, it’s just not a good thing.”
At Lake Inez, Betty Weisenburger saw the plume right away Saturday. After 30 years in fire with the U.S. Forest Service, she knew it wasn’t good.
“That fire went to 300 acres just like that,” Weisenburger said. “We grabbed all our important jewelry, photographs and papers right away.”
She and her husband have just finished putting a new addition on their home.
“We were so stressed this past month getting that completed, and now it looks like we might have to find another home,” she said. “All you can do is take what’s really important and leave the rest to Mother Nature.
“All of us like to think that something like this can’t happen, but when it does you’re just so very fearful.”
Missoula County Sheriff Mike McMeekin confirmed everyone’s fears that the worst had already occurred for some.
McMeekin said he wouldn’t release any information about whose home might have been lost until he’s had a chance to “look them in the eye and tell them about their property.
“They deserve at least that.”
On Monday, some residents with homes on Placid Lake Road up to the northwest corner of the lake will have a chance to go back to their homes, starting at 9 a.m., to retrieve additional belongings.
They must leave the area by noon, McMeekin said.
Other evacuees, including those in the Double Arrow and Boy Scout Road areas, will be able to return from 8 a.m. to noon Monday.
McMeekin said the northwest corner of Placid Lake is still too hot to go into.
Fire officials will meet again with residents at 8 p.m. Monday, again at the elementary school, for what they hope will be more good news n and know will include news of great kindness among friends, neighbors and strangers.
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