On the Mark: Wildfire in My Back Yard (And the Front Yard Too!)

Via the Missoulian

I reported on literally scores of wildfires over my nearly decade-long stint as a television broadcaster in Montana. Among them was the 7,000 acre Black Mountain Fire in 2003 that burned four miles from my home. I still remember standing on my front porch at night watching the glow of the flames beyond the ridge top. Several years later, fireworks sparked a small fire less than a half mile behind my house that almost forced us to evacuate. Those were nothing compared to the big burn in the summer of 2013!

A lightning storm rolled through the Bitterroot Valley on a Sunday in mid-August. Two of the lightning strikes were in rough terrain about 10 miles up Highway 12 from Lolo–one high above the intersection of Elk Meadows Road and the highway with the other in the mountains above Woodman School and the farm house where my friends Clay and Autumn Gilleard lived on the O/Z Ranch, the ranch being a place where I worked for eight summers and remains my favorite place to fish. Little did we know that the best huckleberry picking season in years, located not far from one of the lightning strikes, would come to a very sudden screeching and scorched halt.

Two small smoke plumes

The two small innocent-looking smoke columns grew to 70 acres by Monday morning but then Mother Nature’s fury took over as the fire blew up to 5,000 acres. Then on Tuesday, the fire went on another big run covering 4,000 more acres. By now, the two fires merged into one forming the Lolo Creek Fire Complex. The big blowup covered eight square miles and destroyed five homes. Flames decimated the westernmost reaches of the O/Z’s timber-covered hills.

Via the Missoulian

With the flames pressing upon them Jim Hayden, the ranch manager, and Clay made a calculated move by herding the cattle cross the highway near the schoolhouse. With thick smoke and embers in the air, that turned out to be a good call. Flames also burned down the mountain to the green grass surrounding the Gilleard’s home and outbuildings. Firefighters evacuated them and many others. Clay and Jim remained on the ranch all week long where they used their heavy equipment to carve fire lines and put out spot fires. Firefighters started pouring into Lolo from around the country and even as far away as Canada. It was definitely “Game On!”

As the fire crept closer to Lolo, it triggered more evacuations for everyone who lived from about 15 to 20 miles up Highway 12 to just a few miles west of town. Those forced out of their homes included many friends who lived up Sleeman Gulch, Mill Creek and along Lolo Creek. Thick smoke filled the air and you could hear the thump-thump of choppers making run after run to the Bitterroot River to fill their huge buckets for water drops. Officials closed Highway 12 for both firefighting and safety reasons. Ash coated our windshields, driveways and yards. As I stood in my front yard one day I saw something boomeranging its way to the ground. I walked out in the street, looked up and caught it. It was a small pine tree branch some eight inches in length. The fire, as others do as well, created its own weather system and wind storm that carried that branch more than a couple of miles to me as it continued to feed the flames.

We had a Missoula County Sheriff's deputy knock on our door Tuesday delivering a pre-evacuation notice to us. He said the next time we heard from law enforcement, we’d have to evacuate our home. So we each packed some small bags, gathered a bunch of baby stuff for Kyler, scooped up photos, journals, Grandpa Vern’s .30-06 rifle, my .22, other supplies and had a pile ready to go by the front door.

We were told if an evacuation warning were issued, a slow-moving law enforcement vehicle would drive through the neighborhood with its siren blaring. Luckily, that never happened but it sure felt like it might. Everyone who lived north of Highway 12 and west of Highway 93, including our neighborhood up on the hill, got a similar notice. The rest of Lolo did not.

The fire advanced to a mile or less from Sleeman Gulch. The firefighting effort entailed about 770 total personnel and included nine choppers, small planes, 120 National Guardsmen and other law enforcement from around the state. They took over the heart of Lolo where a tent city went up on the Lolo Little League baseball fields. More firefighters poured into town and the Lolo Creek Fire Complex was named the number-one firefighting effort in the nation! More personnel followed pushing the total count to about 900. Thanks to their presence, our small town’s population grew by more than fourth. When the smoke was at its thickest, it was really eerie outside. It was so thick that we could not see the Sapphire Mountains less than two miles across the valley from our back deck.

“Thank you” and “We Love You” firefighter signs popped up all over town. The fire raged on but the winds subsided. Thanks to our dedicated firefighters, Highway 12 opened up on Saturday, six days after the initial lightning strikes. A shift in the weather pattern blew the smoke another direction and we finally had clear blue skies, even as the fire continued to burn above us.

On Sunday, we arrived at church to find a general authority (a leader from the LDS church) sitting on the stand. Elder Vern Stanfill, formerly a stake president in Kalispell, was there as was President Greg Sangster, our stake president. It was so awesome to see a general authority in our building. He said he was there to let us know that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in Salt Lake City was following the situation and had been praying for us and those fighting the fires. Turns out he and his wife then went to Hallie’s Sunday School class and then came to priest’s quorum. I asked the boys, “Okay, who’s ever attended a priest’s quorum meeting with a member of the Seventy in the same room?” Silence as I chuckled.

Fire Camp on the baseball fields

One other thing I learned that day at church was interesting. I’d been attending the nightly public information fire meetings at Lolo School. While there, I’d jot down bullet-point facts and then email them out to our church members in Lolo and Florence so they’d be updated on evacuations, fire growth, etc.

Miller Creek Fire east of Lolo

President Sangster said he took my email, forwarded it to Elder Stanfill who then forwarded it to the presidency of the Seventy who then forwarded it to the Quorum of the Twelve. Go figure, crazy huh?

Just when everything was returning to normal, even though a number of firefighters remained in town for mop up duty, another dry lightning storm boomed over Lolo on another Sunday night about four weeks later. Hallie looked out the window and said “The mountain is on fire!” Sure enough, a lightning strike hit on the bald-faced mountain above Lolo but this time on the east side of the valley. I called 9-1-1, was told they were already dealing with it and we watched the fire quickly spread both down toward the Bitterroot River and south over the ridge top. Firefighters and choppers had it contained a few days later at about 160 acres. We can certainly live with looking at a charred hillside until the spring green-up. Anything is better than people losing their homes and possessions to a raging wildfire.

Lolo Complex Fire as seen from Missoula (Via Chris Chapman Photography)

This whole experience only solidified my understanding of what’s really important. I remember looking at Lori and then at our furniture and saying something like “This is just stuff.” Yep, all our belongings really don’t matter. It’s all about family, relationships and the love and eternal sealing we share that endure beyond wildfires and beyond this mortal life. We won’t be able to take any of that other “stuff” with us.

Raging flames but firefighters saved the structure
(via Rocky Momberg)

I am so grateful for the hard work and skills of so many firefighters in leaving their loved ones to knock down both fires, save our town and restore so many people to their homes. It was a Montana summer I will always remember.