Rice Ridge Fire Saturday Morning Update

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 to the fire with additional aircraft on order.

SUMMARY: On Friday fire crews on the ground continued to build fireline on the southwest of the fire using heavy equipment. Heavy air tankers dropped fire retardant on the east side of the fire to slow a portion of the fire moving to the east. On the southwest side of the fire, crews continued to build control line, extinguish hot areas where possible and put in additional hose lays.

On the northeast corner of the fire, near Morrell Falls, the fire made several small runs toward the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Aircraft were unable to fly until later in the day due to the late lifting inversion. Once able to fly, nine aircraft made water drops on the southeast corner of the fire and retardant drops along the east side of the fire.

Structure protection groups continue to thin fuels and place hose lays along the Highway 83 corridor and the north side of Seeley Lakes and the Double Arrow community.

The evacuation warning issued to residents on both sides of Highway 83 south of Rice Ridge Road to Morrell Creek and south of Cottonwood Lakes Road east of Highway 83, including the town of Seeley Lake and Double Arrow Ranch is still in effect. No actual evacuations have been ordered.

Residents of the area should sign up for Smart911 at http://www.smart911.com to ensure they receive any emergency messages about potential evacuations.

The American Red Cross has opened a shelter for those who wish to pre-evacuate. It is located at the Potomac Community Center, 29827 Potomac Rd., in Potomac. All evacuees are welcome and there is no cost to stay in the shelter. More info at http://www.redcross.org/get-help/disaster-relief-and-recovery-services/find-an-open-shelter.

TODAY'S PLANS: The north and east sides of the fire will continue to scout for locations to check the fire growth and input control lines. The south and west sides of the fire will continue to build fuel breaks and construct fireline, inputting hose lays as needed. Crews on the southeast side of the fire will hold the existing fireline and build new line to check yesterday afternoon's fire growth. Structure protection planning and operations will continue around Seeley Lake and along the Highway 83 Corridor.

FIRE BEHAVIOR: Areas on the south end of the fire should see a decrease in fire activity, with only surface fuels burning. The north end of the fire has potential for single tree torching interior for the fire later in the day.

ADVISORIES: Not all the smoke in the air today is from the Rice Ridge Fire. Smoke from British Columbia fires will come into the area with the passing of last night's cold front.

For smoke forecasts and health impact information go to: http://deq.mt.gov/air/FireUpdates

CLOSURES: A closure order is still in effect for the areas surrounding the Rice Ridge Fire. A map and copies of the official closure orders are available on Inciweb. Seeley Lake waters are still closed to all recreational activities and will be through the weekend due to aircraft scooping water..