The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation announced Monday that investigators have fingered lightning from the mid-July storm as the source of the Jocko Lakes and Black Cat wildfires.
Both fires were inactive for a significant amount of time following the storm, possibly because the lightning was accompanied by rain, said public information officer John Grassy.
To date, that fire has burned 34,932 acres.
Two weeks later, the Black Cat fire flared between Evaro Hill and Frenchtown, requiring emergency evacuations from dozens of neighborhoods in the forest and on the grasslands below.
Monday's announcement came as cooler, calmer weather helped firefighters reinforce lines and start mop-up work at a number of fires burning in Missoula County and the Bitterroot Valley.
Here's the report from fire camps:
Black Cat: Monday was all business at the 11,754-acre Black Cat fire between Evaro Hill and Frenchtown northwest of Missoula.
“We're mopping up, getting things buttoned up, reinforcing lines on the north and northeast,” said fire information officer Ron Roth.
Helicopters shuttled thousands of gallons of water to cool off any remaining smoke or hot spots, and crews reinforced and renewed miles of fire line.
Residents will still see smoke from the fire's interior “for a long time,” according to Roth, “but the edges are cool and we're making sure they stay that way.”
As the fire subsides, firefighting crews are being sent home. More are expected to leave Tuesday, with the forecast calling for cooler temperatures, higher humidities and afternoon breezes.
Jocko Lakes: A saucy Sunday, complete with a red-flag warning, quieted down to a mild Monday thanks to calm winds and higher humidity.
The day saw the Jocko Lakes wildfire grow just 14 acres - to 34,932, said Vladimir Steblina, a fire information officer.
The fire, which has cost nearly $22 million to fight, is now 46 percent contained. Officials on Monday said they expect to have the fire fully contained by Sept. 15.
But the parchment-dry forest has fire crews on their toes, particularly around the west side of the fire where lines have yet to be established.
“The concern is that it is extremely dry out there. All the fuel - the grass, the large, woody fuels on the ground - have very low moisture content,” Steblina said. “It wouldn't be very difficult to get a start from a tree torching ... and then getting over the line.”
Steblina said he expects the Type 1 fire crew to remain in place at least through next week.
Meanwhile, a structure protection group remains in place in the Placid Lake area. Mop up efforts are under way all along the eastern side of the fire.
Sawmill Complex: While a mandatory evacuation notice remained in effect for the Upper Willow Creek Road area from mile marker 8 north, fire lines held Monday around the three wildfires that make up the Sawmill Complex.
The most activity occurred on the Fisher Point fire, but most of that was burning in the interior on the east side.
The Fisher Point fire was mapped at 11,863 acres, while the Sawmill fire was at 10,753 and the Wyman 2, the largest of the three, grew to 33,866 acres.
Two more Type 1 Canadian fire teams were added to the Fisher Point blaze after being released from the Black Cat fire Monday.
Officials said the potential is certainly there for another flare-up, particularly with possible thunderstorms expected to roll in Thursday. But for now, all remains fairly quiet.
Rock Creek residents are still under a pre-evacuation notice, and Rock Creek Road is closed to nonresidents from Interstate 90 to the intersection with County Road 348. Rock Creek Road is closed to all traffic, including residents, from mile marker 12 to Miller Flats.
Overall containment remained at 15 percent Monday.
A community meeting is planned for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Elkhorn Ranch. A second community meeting is slated for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Clark Ranch in Upper Rock Creek.
Rombo Mountain: Already having covered 21,144 acres south of Conner, the Rombo Mountain fire was active Monday on the south side of Shook Mountain and in east Piquett Creek.
Helicopters and slurry bombers dropped water and retardant in the Shook Mountain area, said fire information officer Jan Amen.
In east Piquett, the fire was backing down to the creek, she said. But but the terrain was too steep for firefighters to go into the area.
A pre-evacuation alert issued by the Ravalli County sheriff from the Sula Store to Conner west of U.S. Highway 93 has been expanded to include everything south of the Conner Cutoff Road to the West Fork Road, and south of the West Fork Road to Trapper Creek Job Corps.
The Rombo Mountain fire was ignited by lightning on July 31. Firefighters and support staff assigned to the fire number 206. The fire is 0 percent contained.
The fire camp has moved from the West Fork to the Sula area. The new phone number at the camp is (406) 821-1065.
Bitterroot National Forest: Travelers on the Magruder Corridor should expect poor visibility in the mornings, as wilderness fires burning in the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church-River of No Return wilderness areas continue to march through the backwoods.
The Bitterroot National Forest is managing fires on about 18,706 acres as “wildland fire use” events intended to allow natural burning in the forest.
Most of the fires started on July 18, some have burned together or sputtered to a halt. Others will continue to burn, sometimes fiercely, sometimes barely at all, until snow covers the wilderness.
Active fire behavior has been seen in recent days in the Magruder and South Saddle fires, with surface flames and group tree torching. Fire has caused intermittent closures along the Magruder Corridor between Magruder Crossing to the Salmon Base Camp.
Fire managers have grouped the wilderness burns into four geographic areas:
n Sawtooth drainage: Ingomar fire (76 acres)
n White Cap area, north of Cooper Point and Watchtower Peak: El Cap (4,363 acres), Capitain Creek (less than one acre), Watchtower (40 acres) and Snake (201 acres).
n Magruder area south of White Cap and north of Salmon Mountain: Indian (38 acres), South Saddle (406 acres), Magruder (3,735 acres), Magruder No. 2 (inactive), BH (693), Halfway Pete (4 acres), Haystack Creek and Salamander (both less than an acre).
n Harrington Ridge area, south of Magruder: Elkhorn (3,077 acres) and Harrington (6,073 acres).
There's a new fire information number for the Bitterroot wildland fire use complex, (406) 821-2055.
Rat Creek: “Things are looking better out there.”
That was the word Monday from incident commander Mike Quesinberry at the Rat Creek fire, burning 25 miles west of Wisdom.
Visible from Highway 93 in the Bitterroot Valley, the fire has burned 19,300 acres and is just 15 percent contained.
Monday's tasks included burning out fuels between the southern fire line and the fire itself. That area is directly west of the Sheep Creek burn of 2000 and northwest of May Creek campground.
Winds were calmer Monday, pushing the fire southwest and west into previously burned areas.
The Big Hole National Battlefield remains open to the public during normal business hours, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but remains ready to evacuate. The historic Hogan Cabin on Trail Creek Road has been wrapped for protection.
To the west, the Bitterroot National Forest has closed nearby forest land and roads leading to the west side of the Continental Divide, including Gibbons Pass and Shultz Saddle roads.
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