Rice Ridge Fire Monday Morning Update

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 along the Cottonwoods Lake Road. Control lines along the western edge of the fire held through the night. The acreage growth for the fire came from growth in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and north of Cottonwoods Lake Road around and east of Monture Creek. Local fire districts mobilized to assist with structures protection efforts in the area.

TODAY: Crews aided by heavy equipment will hold and improve line along the western edge of the fire. Scouting for spot fires will continue along the fire's perimeter including the Cottonwood Lake Road (477). Structure protection efforts will continue at the Monture Guard Station. The area will be patrolled for hot spots along the Cottonwood Lake Road (447). Spotting potential will increase as temperatures rise and humidity lowers through the day. Planning and assessment on the eastern edge of the fire will be conducted today.

Two Type 1 and one Type 3 helicopters are assigned to the fire for water drops and aerial observation. Large air tankers will be available as needed. Structure protection efforts aided by local firefighting districts will continue today and overnight along the Hwy 83 corridor, and at Kozy Korner, Double Arrow Subdivision, the Big Sky Lake area, Monture Guard Station and the Upper Blackfoot Ranch community.

A strong Canadian cold front approaching from the northeast is bringing gusty north and east winds of 25-35 mph this morning. Red Flag Warnings remain in effect until 9 p.m. due to the winds and active wildfire behavior. The dry and gusty east winds will continue through the overnight period. Today's high temperatures will hover around 80 degrees in the valleys with wind gusts as high as 15mph on the ridge tops.

EVACUATIONS: New evacuation orders and warnings were issued in Powell County. The order affects all of Coopers Lake area. The warning area is everything else north of Highway 200 with the west and east boundaries being Missoula and Lewis and Clark County. The Missoula and Powell County Sheriffs have issued multiple evacuation ORDERS and WARNINGS. The current map and description is posted on Inciweb. A shelter site is located at the UCC Church, 405 University Avenue, Missoula MT. Anyone seeking shelter may call the Red Cross of Montana at 1-800-272-6668. Residents of the area should sign up for Smart911 at https://www.smart911.com/ to ensure they receive messages about potential evacuations.

CLOSURES: Multiple closures related to Rice Ridge Fire suppression efforts are in effect for public lands managed by the Lolo National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, Montana DNRC, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Important: Drones are prohibited in the fire vicinity &have the potential to shut down all air operations. A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) remains in place. (http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_7_9440.html).

The main growth was east towards the North Fork of the Blackfoot and east into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The northeast portion of the fire has nearly merged with the Reef Fire. The "Unknown Fire" on the map is the Monahan Fire that started July 16 and has been in monitor status. It is being managed by the Flathead National Forest.

The Liberty Fire also added more than 5,000 acres yesterday and is now up to 21,388 acres. The main growth was to the northeast pushing into the Jocko Lakes burn scar. There was also some growth on the southern end.