Blowing east, winds fanned flames on the leading edge of the wildfire in and around the Archibald Creek area, not far from from the West Side Bypass Road, pushing the fire's total acreage to 20,800 by early evening - and prompting fire officials to order the mandatory re-evacuation of residents east of Highway 83, said fire information officer Tom Kempton.
Residents who live on South Boy Scout Road, Riverview and in the Daisy, Wagonwheel and Overland subdivisions have become practiced at the art of leaving their home in hurry, said Missoula County Sheriff Mike McMeekin.
A week ago Saturday, when the Jocko Lakes fire ran five miles in five hours, to the edge of Placid and Seeley lakes, those same residents - and others - had to evacuate their homes. In all, 625 homes were emptied.
But on Friday, with containment lines in place and good progress by firefighters, some residents were allowed to return home. The return, however, was issued with a caveat - “be ready to leave within 90 minutes,” McMeekin said.
On Sunday, he said: “It worked the way it was supposed to. People were calm and polite.”
“This community has cooperated to such an unbelievable extent - it's really impressive,” McMeekin said. “Everything went smoothly and orderly, and there wasn't a single accident.”
The fire is burning in a large pocket of heavy beetle-killed timber, Kempton said. By mid-afternoon, it was so hot, it was throwing out fire starts closer and closer to homes and outbuildings just west of the West Side Bypass Road.
Concerned by fire behavior and the hot, windy conditions, which were eerily similar to a week ago Saturday, crews foamed a handful of structures, including homes, barns and outbuildings in the Eagle Point subdivision, Kempton said.
As the fire approached, crews were pulled out for safety reasons.
Then came a cloud of heavy smoke, which blew in from Idaho and blanketed much of the Missoula Valley, laid down over the Jocko Lakes fire.
All firefighters could do was wait for a change in conditions.
Luckily, the smoke dampened the fire's activity, Kempton said, and when it lifted near dark, firefighters' efforts withstood the heat.
None of the structures were damaged, and the fire did not cross any of the contingency points, including the West Side Bypass Road.
Crews are working to contain and control the Jocko Lakes fire around the clock, Kempton said. Although the Sunday night inversion quieted much of the fire burning at lower elevations, fire spots on and near ridge lines will likely be above the inversion and were expected to burn actively through the night.
The plan is to keep crews on the fire 24 hours a day.
“We run this fire all day, and it gets up and moves,” Kempton said. “Then the night crews come in and buy us some time and get another anchor point in. And then day comes and it gets up and moves.”
“This fire is not over by any means,” he said. “The conditions are real extreme and there doesn't seem to be any break in the weather any time soon.”
Sawmill Complex fires: In the upper Rock Creek drainage southeast of Missoula, three wildfires showed very active growth Sunday afternoon, fanned by 35-mph winds.
Firefighters reported single-tree torching, group-tree torching, crown runs and spotting one-third mile ahead of the flame front.
The Sawmill Complex fires have now burned 27,250 acres, and are just 10 percent contained, said fire information officer James Stone.
“We got the red-flag conditions we were expecting,” Stone said, “and they made the fires very active all afternoon.”
The largest of those fires, called Wyman 2, has now burned 20,810 acres. On Saturday alone, it traveled across 4,000 acres - mostly burning islands of green timber within the fire's perimeter.
Sunday's run took the Wyman north along Rock Creek, with at least one spot fire landing on the opposite side of the creek. Firefighters were extremely aggressive in chasing down the spots, and were able to keep the main fire from crossing the creek - a top priority.
“The Wyman 2 was very active on all flanks,” Stone said. “The northeast flank had high winds. Crews were pulled back from the Palouse and Big Creek drainages, as the fire moved down toward Rock Creek.”
On Monday, firefighters will be stationed along Rock Creek, waiting for the fires to come to them, according to Stone.
The 3,840-acre Sawmill fire is backing toward Rock Creek Road on its southern flank. It has not yet reached the Welcome Creek drainage.
Stone said firefighters have constructed an elaborate sprinkler system on the swinging bridge that crosses Rock Creek at Welcome Creek.
A pump station has been placed beneath the bridge on the Rock Creek Road side, and a water main runs down the middle of the bridge, then steers water into a number of garden hoses and nozzles.
“All they have to do is start the pump and throw the main switch,” he said. “They have it ready if the fire moves into the drainage.”
On Sunday, the Sawmill fire was about a mile and a half from the swinging bridge, but was heading in that direction.
No ground crews are fighting the 2,900-acre Fisher Point fire. Helicopter bucket drops are being used to cool hot spots and control the fire's spread, when necessary.
Stone said the closure of Rock Creek Road remains in effect.
On Sunday, incident commander Tom Heintz and his team were handing over responsibility for the complex's management to Glen McNitt's team. They last saw duty at the Jocko Lakes fire burning near Seeley Lake.
Rombo Mountain fire: Strong southwesterly and westerly winds pushed the Rombo Mountain fire across another 1,000 acres of the Bitterroot National Forest on Sunday.
A July 31 lightning start, that fire has now burned 4,750 acres south of Conner and northeast of Painted Rocks Lake.
With winds gusting to 35 mph, spotting was observed a half-mile in front of the fire, and some spots blew across containment lines on the west edge of the fire.
Helicopter bucket drops were used to limit the Rombo's spread - until the wind became too fierce for flying.
The fire's spread was primarily to the east and north, with some spread to the south because of several short uphill crown runs.
Plans for Monday are to improve the indirect fire line to the northeast from Rombo Creek to the 2000 Fat Creek fire, quell any spot fires that crossed containment lines, cool hot spots with helicopter bucket drops as needed, and complete the protective wrapping of Medicine Lookout Tower.
As of Sunday, 164 firefighters and support crews were assigned to the Rombo Mountain fire, with more ground crews and helicopters on order. Those extra resources may not, however, be available because of the large number of fires burning throughout the West.
Bitterroot National Forest officials reminded visitors that while some trails are closed to the public because of the fires - notably Trail No. 33 along the Sapphire Crest and trails near the Rombo Mountain and Tin Cup fires - most others on the forest are open.
Popular hiking trails from Kootenai Creek on the north end of the forest all along the west side of the forest are open, including the Trapper Peak trail.
Hikers on Trapper Peak may, in fact, have a bird's-eye view of the Rombo Mountain fire to the south or the Tin Cup fire to the east.
New start: Initial attack crews on the Bitterroot forest chased one new fire on Sunday afternoon - this on the north slope of Saddle Mountain near Lost Trail Pass.
That fire was about one-half acre in size, and quickly commanded the attention of three helicopters, a single-engine air tanker and a retardant ship.
No firefighters were put on the ground because of erratic winds.
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