Fire burns 42 acres newar Buffalo Bridge
A single engine air tanker prepares to drop its load of Thermagel on the West Buffalo Bridge Fire Thursday evening. The blaze burned 42 acres.
Smoke billows from the West Buffalo Bridge Fire Thursday evening near Polson. The blaze burned 42 acres but is contained, according to Polson firefighter Karen Sargeant. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
VALLEY VIEW — Crews from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Polson and Ronan worked quickly last Thursday evening to contain a 42-acre wildland fire burning near Buffalo Bridge.
“It’s being mopped up, which means they have the fire line secure all around it and are working on getting all the hot spots completely out,” Polson volunteer firefighter Karen Sargeant said Tuesday morning.
Dubbed the West Buffalo Bridge Fire, crews responded to the area, on tribal land, around 5 p.m. after calls coming into Lake County Dispatch reported large clouds of smoke. Tribal fire, Polson and Ronan responded with manpower, tenders and an air assault that included a single engine air tanker (SEAT) and a helicopter. Sargeant said the plane dropped Thermagel, a blue fire suppressant, on the blaze, while the helicopter responded with a long line that dipped a bucket into the Flathead River to drop water on the fire. Crews tended the area all of Thursday night and tribal fire crews continued to work and patrol the area Tuesday morning.
“At this point there are no flames, it’s just hot spots,” Sargeant said. “It’s tedious, tedious work.”
The fire jumped the river to the east side, according to Sargeant, and spot fires, including one of up to a half acre, sprouted up.
“Just embers sparked those spot fires, that’s how dry it is down there,” she said. “People need to be very careful and use fire pits and be safe. We are very dry, despite the earlier rain.”
The fire was in brush and timber, Sargeant said, including some tree torching but no crown fires. She said it was the biggest fire yet of the summer. Smoke was visible in Polson Thursday evening as windy conditions brought haze and the smell of smoke over the town and Flathead Lake.
A still-burning campfire and high winds started the blaze, Sargeant said, but it is nearly impossible to pinpoint who left the campsite unattended.
“You need to be responsible and make sure it’s safe if you’re going to leave your campsite,” she said. “Make sure the fire is dead out. The river is right there. Make sure [the wood] is cool to the touch and make sure all the coals are extinguished.”
She commended all the responding agencies for working well together.