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Morning Update: There will be a community meeting in Ovando tonight at 6 pm at the Ovando Elementary School. Evacuation Change: At 8 am this morning, Zone 5 in Seeley Lake was downgraded from an Evacuation Order to an Evacuation Warning, allowing residents to return to their homes. The only area still under an evacuation order for the Rice Ridge Fire is the Coopers Lake area in Powell County The Rice Ridge Fire is now 139,502 acres a change of 4,000 acres since yesterday. The containment,...
SEELEY LAKE – The Rice Ridge Fire gained steam this week nearly doubling the acres burned from 16,117 last Tuesday to 30,661 acres Aug. 29. Several more evacuation orders were given during the week and Monday night evacuations were ordered for a large portion of Seeley Lake east of Highway 83. The fire crossed into the Bob Marshall Wilderness Sunday, Aug. 27 near Devin Peak. It continued to spread north and east through Pyramid Pass and toward Leota Peak on the north and Monture Mountain to t...
OVANDO – On Day 40 of the Rice Ridge Fire nearly 100 people filled the Ovando School Gym for a community meeting. Incident Commander John Thompson provided fire updates and answered questions from the community. Meeting Highlights: • The Lolo National Forest picked up 17 new fires in the last 48 hours, and five went large. One of the helicopters will be leaving in three days because they have timed out and another will be down for maintenance tomorrow. This is adding strain to already str...
Morning Update: The Rice Ridge Fire doubled in size yesterday to 101,425 acres. It is 7% contained and has 757 personnel on the fire. The cost to date is $29.6 million. There is a community meeting tonight at 6 p.m. at Mission Bible Fellowship. YESTERDAY: During daylight hours crews worked to strengthen lines along western perimeter of the fire, including Sawyer and Murphy Creeks and south to Cottonwood Lakes Road (477). In the late afternoon, crews aided by helicopters, extinguished spot fires...
Morning Fire Update for the Rice Ridge Fire: Greg Poncin's Northern Rockies Type 1 Incident Management Team assumed command of the fire at 6 am this morning. There is a community meeting tonight, Tuesday, Sept. 5 at the Ovando Elementary School Gym at 6 pm. The Rice Ridge Fire grew 7,000 acres yesterday and is now more than 108,000 acres. YESTERDAY: Yesterday the Rice Ridge fire and the Reef fire grew together towards the north within the Bob Marshall Wilderness adding the majority of increased...
SEELEY LAKE – The community gathered at Seeley Lake Elementary for the seventh community meeting discussing the Rice Ridge Fire. The fire is now nearly 16,000 acres. This week is a transition week as the Eastern Area Incident Management Team transitions command Tuesday at 6 p.m. to John Thompson's Northern Rockies Type 2 Team. Seeley Lake Elementary will no longer host the Team, they will be located south of town at the main firefighter camp. Field Operations Chief Rich Schenk said the m...
Seeley Lake Triathlon Cancelled SEELEY LAKE – Due to the recent fire activity and lake closures, the Seeley Lake Triathlon, scheduled for Aug. 12, has been cancelled. The organizers will contact those who have pre-registered about refund options. The triathlon will not be rescheduled for this year. Everyone is encouraged to participate next year in the annual Youth for Christ fundraiser at River Point Campground. Law Enforcement, County Government at Next Council Meeting, Aug. 14 SEELEY LAKE - Law enforcement and Missoula County government w...
Rice Ridge Fire Morning Update: A public meeting will be held tonight, at 6pm at the Seeley Lake Elementary School. The Rice Ridge Fire grew near 1,000 acres yesterday, with most of the growth to the east into the Blind Canyon and Swamp Creek Area. It is now 10,194 acres and 10% contained. There are 554 Firefighters: 11 crews, 36 engines, 3 helicopters, 2 dozers, 17 water tenders and overhead personnel assigned to the fire. The night photo was taken last night, Aug. 9 from the Seeley Lake...
SEELEY LAKE – Hundreds of people showed up for the fourth Rice Ridge Fire community meeting at the Seeley Lake Elementary school Thursday, Aug. 10. The country is now in Stage 5, the highest level of preparedness for wildfire and all resources are on maximum alert. The Rice Ridge Fire is still the number one priority fire in the nation. Fire operations are focused on establishing control lines on the north, west and south edges of the fire. The team is not putting resources on the east flank. T...
Rice Ridge Fire Morning Update: As a reminder, the evacuation warning issued within areas of Seeley Lake (including Double Arrow Ranch), remains in effect and residents are urged to be prepared. Residents adjacent to these areas should remain vigilant. Highway 83 is still open and businesses in Seeley Lake are open. Stage II Fire Restrictions are in place. Crews, engines, and heavy equipment use public roads traveling to and from their daily assignments. Residents are urged to slow down and be...
Rice Ridge Fire Morning Update: The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Rice Ridge Fire area from 2pm Saturday to 9pm Sunday for hot and dry weather, atmospheric instability, gusty winds and poor overnight humidity recovery. Fire managers expect an increase in fire activity and are preparing to strengthen containment lines with increasing overnight staffing during the Red Flag period, especially in critical areas around the fire perimeter and in Double Arrow Ranch. A...
SEELEY LAKE – For the second time this week, the Seeley Lake Elementary gym was filled for a public meeting about the Rice Ridge Fire. The Thursday meeting updated the community on fire operations for both the Rice Ridge and Liberty fires burning near Seeley Lake. The meeting began with a moment of silence for the two firefighters who have been killed fighting blazes on the Lolo National Forest. Nineteen-year-old Trenton Johnson died on the Florence Fire near Seeley Lake on July 19. and 2...
A public meeting will be held on Sunday, Aug. 6 at 6pm at the Seeley Lake Elementary School. A fire information booth will be staffed at the Valley Market on Highway 83 from 10am to 6pm. Photo courtesy of Mark Melvin. The Rice Ridge Fire is 7,740 acres as of this morning at 5am, a growth of nearly 800 acres from yesterday. The fire is 10% contained and has 9 crews, 23 engines, 2 helicopters, 4 dozers, 4 water tenders and overhead personnel totaling 370 firefighters. 2 helicopters are assigned...
SEELEY LAKE – A now-familiar scene unfolded in Seeley Lake Elementary School Sunday evening. The noticeably smaller crowd gathered for the third public meeting to hear updates on the ongoing fire operations on the Rice Ridge Fire and other fires burning in the area. The most recent fire maps formed the backdrop of the meeting. A daily progression map showed the growth over the last 24 hours-fingers of fire spread west down Rice Ridge towards Highway 83 and a sizable section of fire pushed up t...
Rice Ridge Fire Morning Update: The Rice Ridge Fire grew around 200 acres yesterday and is now up to 8,423 acres. It is 10% contained. There are 461 Firefighters including 9 crews, 28 engines, 4 helicopters, 2 dozers, 17 water tenders and overhead personnel. Photo by Nathan Bourne of the fire from The Barn Sunday night. SUMMARY: The next public meeting will be held on Thursday, Aug. 10 at 6pm at the Seeley Lake Elementary School. Monday's weather provided for moderate fire activity along the...
Directions: Turn north off Highway 200 East onto Gold Creek Road No. 126 near Potomac. Take next left up unmarked Twin Creek Road No. 2117. Stay on main road until trailhead. Total time to trailhead parking is one hour by truck and one hour, 20 minutes with a horse trailer. To access trail No. 505, go past the trailhead to the right and left up the small rocky slope where trail 505 begins. This is also the trail to the junction of trail No. 513 to Shoofly Meadows. From this trail sign it is...
SEELEY LAKE – Live music was easy to come by in Seeley Lake this past weekend as bands from all over the country came to play at the second annual Bob Marshall Music Festival. While the official attendance numbers were not available at press time, event coordinator Chris Stout said the count started at 200 people-just counting band members and volunteers. "Overall I think it went well," said Stout. "Maybe do what we did this year and perfect that for a couple years before adding anything a...
OVANDO - The Monahan Fire was reported at approximately 5:30 p.m. Sunday, July 16 on Monahan Mountain. Trails #402 and #27 near Limestone Pass were closed Monday for public and firefighter safety. The fire is approximately 17 miles north of Ovando and is visible from Highway 200. This backcountry fire is located up the East Fork of Monture Creek between Limestone Pass and Monahan Mountain near the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The area is moderately timbered/rocky steep slopes with mostly south/southeast aspect. The fire is burning in primarily suba...
Change Your Pace Challenge SEELEY LAKE - Seventy-two runners braved the late morning heat to run in the Change Your Pace Challenge 10K, 5K and 2K races. Micah Drew from Seeley Lake finished first in the 10K with a time of 33:40.96. Forty-year-old Daisy Zell of Bozeman led the women in the 10K with a time of 51:38.03. In the 5K, Seeley Lake eighth-grader Hannah Ayers finished first for the women, and third overall, with a time of 21:53.33. Chris Boland of Cascade, Mont. won the race with a time o...
SEELEY LAKE - Summer music festivals in Montana are almost as prevalent as cherries on a tree in the Flathead. They range from the Montana Folk Festival in Butte, to the Big Sky Classical Music Festival, to the new Traveler's Rest in Missoula. The local Bob Marshall Music Festival, on July 13-16, enters its second year as a solid member of the summer music scene in the four-oh-six. Last year's inaugural event hosted more than 2,500 people at the festival during the busiest day-including kids...
SEELEY LAKE – The local churches are leaving their walls and joining together to lead a worship service Sunday morning, July 16 to close out the Bob Marshall Music Festival. Led by Gary Wayne, Pastor of Faith Chapel and a nine-piece worship band comprised of three Seeley Lake churches, the intent is two-fold: to continue to unify the local churches and share the love of Jesus Christ with all the attendees. Several large music festivals around the country include a Sunday morning service as a p...
At A Glance Pyramid Pass, Lake and Peak Length: 5.2 miles from the parking lot to Pyramid Pass and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Boundary. 0.75 miles further to Pyramid lake, 1.5 miles up to Pyramid Peak **The sign in the parking lot is wrong- it shows 4 miles to the pass** Elevation: Trailhead: 5,200 feet; Pass: 6,695 feet; Lake: 6,946 feet, Peak: 8,309 feet Directions: Turn east off Highway 83 onto Morrell Creek Road north of Seeley Lake. Drive just over a mile before taking a left, following...
I didn’t write this as an expert on land management and wildlife issues, or as a representative of any organization. I did write it as someone with strong concerns about where society as it relates to those issues is headed, and as an area resident who would like to meet others for informal discussions about the issues presented. Maintaining Balance Many years ago I was a pre-law student at the University of Nevada. One of the requirements was a course in economics. During the first few days of the class, the professor and text tried to p...
SEELEY LAKE - South Morrell Trail #30.1 is a popular destination for mountain bikers, trail runners and hikers. It starts from the first switchback of Pyramid Pass Road and runs about five miles down to Woodworth-Seeley Lake Road. Early this summer the trail received maintenance from the Forest Service. According to Katie Knotek, the Seeley District trail manager, a small bridge on the trail was not up to Forest Service standards. Crews went in and replaced the old bridge near the start of the t...
SEELEY LAKE-A line of 10 mules, interspersed with the occasional ranch hand on horseback, wound its way down the trail into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The mules each carried a large canvas covered pack on either side of their back-enough supplies and food to last four days. The first pack trip of the season was underway. Several hours earlier, at 7:10 a.m. Gail Theard and her family from North Carolina arrived at the Rich Ranch to start their trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Jack Rich,...
