The fast-moving Red Quill Fire burned through about 20 acres of grass and timber before firefighters from several jurisdictions corralled the blaze in late afternoon.
“We were very lucky,” said Cindy Super, a public information officer with the Montana Department of Natural Resources. “This was definitely a wind-driven fire. It took off very quickly.”
Controlled burns are illegal at this point in the summer in Missoula County. In Ravalli County, residents are required to call county officials to ask permission to burn, Super said.
“I’m pretty sure they would have said no,” she said.
At the time of the fire, the National Weather Service was calling for 60 mph winds around Lolo.
Volunteer engine crews from Florence, Stevensville and the Three Mile Fire Departments responded to the fire. There were also state and federal crews on the scene, including two helicopters that dropped buckets of water on the blaze.
There were more than 100 firefighters on the scene at 6 p.m.
“We have Corvallis, Stevensville, Victor, Hamilton, Missoula Rural, Three Mile, DNRC and the Forest Service,” said Missoula County Sheriff Mike McMeekin. “And the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Department sent a pile of people until Missoula showed up with a strike team. Here we go with the interagency cooperation n it’s just wonderful.
“Everybody jumped in and did a wonderful job.”
The quick work of a bulldozer operator may have been what saved the day.
“There was a bulldozer up there and it went to work right away,” Super said. “The fire was burning in heavy timber and grass. ... It had the potential to become pretty big.”
“They asked for retardant, but with the winds that were blowing at the time, they couldn’t get it,” Super said.
Missoula County sheriff’s deputies went from home to home in the Upper Woodchuck area to alert residents of the fire, but no homes were evacuated.
By 7 p.m., McMeekin assured residents they could sleep well Tuesday night. “It’s under control,” he said, “and fire engine crews will be on-site to watch it overnight.”
Missoulian reporter Betsy Cohen and Ravalli Republic reporter Anthony Quirini contributed to this story.
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