Deep Draw fires fully contained

By Ali Bronsdon / Leader Staff

Western Montana Northern Rockies Incident Commander Glen McNitt and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Division of Fire declared the Deep Draw fires west of Elmo 100-percent contained Monday morning.

At 6 a.m. Monday, Type 3 incident commander Art Trahan took over management with five local CSKT 20-person crews, two single engine tanker seat planes, one medium helicopter and the tribal dozer working to mop up and secure the fire lines, Curtiss Matt Division of Fire Information Officer said. The information center at the Elmo powwow grounds closed Sunday and will be transitioned to the Division of Fire headquarters in Ronan.

Sunday, the Deep Draw fire again exhibited minimal fire behavior, McNitt said, with an occasional flare up when pockets of vegetation inside the fire line burned. Crews completed containment efforts and continued holding and mopping up hot spots inside the fireline. Handheld infrared heat sensors, or Palm IRs, were used to help identify the areas with heat. Equipment and crews completed opening up access roads.

"We really had a good couple days before the turnover on the fire," Matt said. "The wind was cooperative, and in fact, the wind blew a lot of the fire back into the interior."

According to Matt, the area still contains assorted hotspots, but nothing is threatening. The western end of the blaze is mostly dead and burnt out, so crews are concentrating on hot spots on the eastern side, especially along the fireline. A Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) team will help to rehab the area.

"They'll come in and rehab, redo burnout fences, seed burn out lines and fire lines — try to get the area back to norm," said Matt. "We try and mitigate in case there is a heavy spring rain. We try and avoid the landslides and material coming off that burned area."

According to Matt, the Deep Draw fires most likely won't involve any salvage work (getting the burnt timber off) because of the steep and rocky terrain.

This fire here has been one of the area's major fires this year, but the fire season is not over, said Matt. The potential for more extreme blazes depends a lot on the weather. While most of the 2008 fires have been a result of careless camp fires, Deep Draw started during a lightning storm on August 9.

"There's supposed to be a front coming in that may or may not have rain, but it might have lighting," he said. "We were real lucky with the Deep Draw fire because there wasn't a lot of activity going on in the area and we were able to capitalize on the resources and equipment."

Matt urges people to use caution if they decide to enter the recently burned area. They should also call the Division of Fire before heading out.

"We're going to have a lot of machinery and crews transferred up there," he said. "Right now the hazards are that the roads are dusty. It is not the safest place to be."