Members of the community viewing maps prior to the meeting.
The fire progression by day. Purple, 7/27 - 60 acres; Blue, 7/30 - 11 acres; Teal, 7/31 - 3,219 acres; Yellow, 8/1 - 699 acres; Orange, 8/2 - 2,870 acres; Red, 8/3 - 387 acres
The current map of the fire as of Thursday afternoon.
Incident Commander Steve Goldman speaking to the community.
The current 1000-hour (large logs) fuels moisture. The black line is 2017 that mimics 2003 (dotted green line). The fire behavior analyst predicts we will see record low fuel moistures this year.
The fire behavior analysis explaining the Energy Release Component (ERC). The ERC is the amount of energy released, measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs), at the head of the fire. Again, the ERC values for 2017 are mimicking 2003, are currently in the 98 percentile and could break records if the weather continues to stay hot and dry.
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 29-year-old Brent Witham died on the Lolo Peak Fire this week.
Afterwards, updates for the Rice Ridge Fire began.
As of this afternoon, the fire is currently 7,235 acres. There are approximately 100 structures that are threatened, and Seeley Lake is still under an evacuation warning.
"This fire is one good afternoon away from getting in areas that might have structures," said Incident Commander Steve Goldman, whose Type 2 Team took command of the fire early this morning. "The fire is the number one priority in the nation as of this morning, but that could change if another fire shows up... we've got a lot of fires on the landscape.
The current strategy on the fire is working to stop spread on the south end. Firefighters engaged in direct attack putting in line to keep the fire away from the community.
They are not taking suppression actions on the eastern flank of the fire due to steep terrain and heavy and dry fuels.
"There's just no way we can put firefighters in the way of that," said Goldman. "If it goes into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, we're not going to stop it. It's low priority compared to you all."
Two days of air attack have kept the fire lines mostly intact and prevented rapid spread of the burn area, however weather on Friday has officials concerned.
"With the air show yesterday and the airshow today... that helped us tremendously stop any forward movement," said Operations Chief Keith Murphy. "We just want to make everyone aware that tomorrow's weather will test us... If the wind funnels down there and folds that thing over, we won't be able to see anything. We'll be asking for a lot of air [resources] tomorrow."
Friday is supposed to bring high temperatures, low relative humidity and high winds which will test the fire line.
In the event that the crews cannot prevent the fire from spreading towards town, the Missoula County Sheriff's Department is on hand in case evacuations are necessary.
A representative from Missoula County Emergency Management talked the attendants through evacuation contingency plans and what residents should be thinking about.
Residents should sign up for emergency alerts through SMART911 (www.smart911.com), have an evacuation plan and route in mind and establish a family communication plan.
The Potomac/Greenough Community Center has been established as an emergency shelter.
Captain Anthony Rio with the Sheriff's Office reiterated that the town is on evacuation warning, which means residents should be ready to leave at a moment's notice.
The meeting was intended to clear some confusion among town residents, while also conveying the gravity of the situation if the fire gets out of control.
"The fire can move at a quarter to a mile per hour," said Goldman. "This fire is one-point-four miles from town."
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