Crews gain ground on Elmo Fire

ELMO – As containment of the Elmo 2 wildfire increased to 61% on Tuesday morning, the Lake County Sheriff's Office downgraded evacuation orders to pre-evacuation warnings for residents along Lake Mary Ronan Road west of Dayton Creek Road, Chief Cliff Lane, Black Lake Road and Big Meadows Road.

Closures remain in effect for the boat ramp at the Elmo Fishing Access site and Lake Mary Ronan State Park, while Camp Tuffit/West Shore Road remains under evacuation order and is closed to all traffic.

During a public fire update meeting held Monday night at the Elmo Pow Wow Grounds, Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 7 commander John Thompson expressed his hopefulness that his team would have around 90% fire containment by the week's end.

More than 600 firefighters were on the scene, with assistance from air resources that include scooper planes and helicopters.

“We are glad things are getting better, every day we are getting closer to containment,” explained Thompson. “We have been very blessed to have gotten a lot of firefighting resources to help us and we have gotten some great changes in the weather when we have needed it.”

The Elmo 2 Fire started on July 29 in grass along Montana 28 around mile marker 39, west of Elmo. The wildfire exploded in size after advancing into thick timber north of Highway 28, with tinder-dry conditions and strong winds helping the flames spread.

Since first igniting, the human-caused blaze has scorched a total acreage of 21,349 acres, forced the evacuation of about 150 residences, and has destroyed a total eight structures which includes four primary residences.

The estimated cost to fight the fire has reached $10.4 million mark.

Meanwhile, 120 firefighters have been assigned to the lightning-cause Redhorn Fire northeast of St. Ignatius.

The blaze has consumed nearly 400 acres of steep and rugged terrain within the Tribal Mission Mountain Wilderness Grizzly Bear Management Zone.

There were no evacuations as of Tuesday, however the McDonald Lake area is closed to recreation due to grizzly bear habitat from July 15 to October 1.

As of Tuesday morning, the Flathead Indian Reservation remains under Stage I fire restrictions. People may only smoke within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site or while stopped in an area at least 3 feet in diameter cleared of flammable materials. People may cook on a liquid petroleum gas or propane stove that can be turned on and off.

Official updates on both the Elmo 2 Fire and Redhorn Fire are available at inciweb.nwcg.gov and on the CSKT Division of Fire Facebook page.