NEWS

Fire menaces Great Falls, threatens homes

Karl Puckett, Jo Dee Black and Jenn Rowell
Great Falls Tribune

A grass fire on farmland north of Great Falls on Tuesday afternoon blew up in high winds, racing across thousands of acres and marching toward the city limits, threatening neighborhoods and forcing evacuations while covering the city with a fog of smoke.

At 8:34 p.m., when the early estimate of the fire’s size was 5,600 acres, Great Falls Fire/Rescue lifted the evacuation order and hundreds of residents were allowed to return to their homes, and most of the threat had subsided.

Fire crews remained on site to guard against flare-ups.

Vince Kolar, Cascade County’s Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator, said the fire circled one residence and possibly burned a barn. As far as he knew, no residences had burned.

Earlier in the evening, residents in areas on the northern edge of the city above Skyline Drive from Division Road to 4th Street Northeast and from 39th Avenue Northeast to 41st Avenue Northeast were asked to evacuate as walls of flames spread just north of homes.

Neighborhoods in danger included Eagles Crossing, Thaniel subdivision, West Ridge, Skyline and Countryside Village Manufactured Home Community.

“This is crazy,” said Scott Olson, as he watched flames on the horizon from a neighborhood at 2nd Street Northeast and 39th Ave Northeast.

Olson, who lives on 32nd Avenue, came to the neighborhood to bring a garden hose to his brother-in-law. Like other residents of the city, he was sitting down for dinner when the wind picked up.

“It looked like the whole city was on fire,” he said. “It scared me.”

Earlier Tuesday, firefighters battled a blaze in pastureland off Vinyard Road north of Great Falls that torched a few thousand acres and threatened several homes and livestock.

The fire was deemed contained in the late afternoon, but the wind switched and a thunderstorm rolled through the area causing powerful downdraft winds that picked up embers and blew them toward the city.

Just past Skyline Drive on 6th Street Northwest, a road block was set up, and a long line of cars with people living just north of the city waited to get to their homes, but they weren’t allowed allowed to pass.

As they waited, flames erupted on the horizon to the north and headed south toward the city.

“All I’m worried about is my poor little kitties,” said Lisa Garber, tears in her eyes, as she sat in her vehicle.

Janelle Bates, concerned for horses and dogs locked in kennels inside, cries as officers tell her she can not go back for them as the fire burns south towards Skyline Drive NW Tuesday.

Drew Allen wanted to get to his parents’ house to rescue three dogs and two horses.

“They won’t let us in,” he said.

Smoke wafted through residential neighborhoods north of the Skyline area. Some residents climbed onto their roofs to get better views. Police had some roads blocked. Sprinklers were turned on at most residences and some people hosed down their houses.

“My mom left,” said Alex Kern, who was directing traffic on 36th Avenue. “We’re hosing the field down right now.”

Great Falls firefighters were assisted in fighting the fire by Fairfield, Choteau, Teton, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana Air National Guard and the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Lt. Chief Jeremy Jones of Great Falls Fire/Rescue said 14 firefighters were on duty at the time of the fire and an additional 18 to 20 firefighters were called in to assist, plus administrative help.

“We’ve probably got some pretty tired firefighters right now, and those guys are going to help us out tonight,” Kolar said of the assistance from other agencies.

As he spoke, a task force of tankers were pulling in from Lewis and Clark County.

Philip Grimshaw of 301 Skyline Drive N.W. was dousing his home with a garden house at about 7:45 p.m. after returning from being evacuated by authorities earlier in the evening. Grimshaw’s home on the northside of Skyline Drive N.W. abuts a large, open field to the north.

High winds pushed smoke from the prairie fire into the neighborhood. Grimshaw could see flames.

Alex Kern helps direct traffic on 36th Ave NW as fire burns near a field at the end of the street Tuesday.

“It was so thick you couldn’t see across the street, and you couldn’t tell how close the fire was,” said Mike Schneiderhan, who lives a block directly south of Grimshaw at 2916 3rd St. N.W. Police were knocking on doors and notifying residents by robocalls of the evacuation notice, he said.

Schneiderhan said authorities told him at 5 p.m. the fire was about 3,000 acres.

“The latest I heard was that it grew to 10,000 acres and the fire was taking off in branches,” he said. “At about 6 p.m., I was over (to the northeast) before they kicked us out. There is a new NeighborWorks housing development, and the fire was going right at it.”

Later Tuesday evening, Kolar, of Cascade County, said the preliminary estimate of the size of the fire was 5,600 acres.

Schneiderhan, who has lived in the neighborhood for 29 years, didn’t evacuate.

While residents were fleeing, other vehicles were driving around a Montana Highway Patrol car that was attempting to block traffic into the area.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Schneiderhan said.

As Grimshaw hosed down his home, he called to a passer-by.

“Hey, thanks for the offer man, I really appreciate it,” he said.

Asked if the passer-by was a neighbor, Grimshaw replied, “I don’t know who he is, but he offered to help me get my stuff out of my house when they were evacuating us.”

C.M. Russell High was opened up to evacuees.

A DNRC helicopter battles a grass fire at Vinyard Road and Thunder Road on Tuesday afternoon.  Several homes were threatened during the blaze.

Earlier

Fire danger remains high, Kolar said.

“The fuels are just brittle,” he said.

Erratic winds Tuesday caused flames to suddenly change directions as they crackled through brittle grass in draws and coulees after the fire began 6 miles north of the city.

“It was just one of those crazy fires that’s hard to get a handle on,” Kolar said.

The fire was sparked about noon by farm equipment, Kolar said. It was contained by about 4 p.m. when firefighters were mopping up, but also came back to life when the wind picked up later in the evening.

A helicopter with DNRC was called to assist and focused its water drops on five to 10 homes that were threatened.

Jim Senst of STARadio said the fire also threatened a building housing two radio transmitters for two FM radio stations — KINX and KWGF.

“If we lost the building, I’d lose hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.

An 800-foot tall radio tower is next to the building.

A portion of the fire burned pasture owned by Bob and Shelly Vernon. Shelly Vernon said she had to round up horses and mules as the fire approached.

“I feel like I’m waiting for my house to burn,” said Vernon, as shifting winds kicked up flames that moved across the dry landscape on two sides of her property.

Fire north of Great Falls suspicious, fire chief says

Firefighters battled a 1,200-acre fire in wheat and hayfields off of Vinyard Road last Tuesday. Its cause was considered suspicious.

The farmer who started Tuesday’s blaze tried to put the fire out but it got away form him, Kolar said. It then burned across the valley and got up into some grainfields on the north side, Kolar said.

Fire danger is high in Cascade County at this time because of the dry conditions, and county officials advised residents to be careful when they are recreating and camping.

“They need to help us out,” Kolar said.

Departments from Sand Coulee, Black Eagle, Manchester, Vaughn, Sun Prairie, Sun River, Simms, Fort Shaw, Power, Black Eagle, Great Falls and a hand crew from the DNRC responded to the initial report of the fire.

Pets

The Humane Society of Cascade County asked anyone needing to shelter their pets during the fire evacuations to call, even offering to pay the board fees for evacuated pets at Best Friends Animal Hospital.

Elsewhere

There also were two lightning-caused fires farther north. Teton County Fire Chief Steve Rose said one was east of Dutton and the other was near Gordon, in Cascade County, between Vaughn and Power.

Tribune staff writer Jenn Rowell contributed to this report.