The Latest Details on the Miller Peak Fire Near Missoula

UPDATE - 7/24/2024 11:34 AM:

I spoke with Myles Goldstein, Public Information Officer with the Miller Peak Fire at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, and he said there are new restrictions being imposed today.

“At noon today, a Red Flag Warning will be administered,” began Goldstein. “We just put up a video on our (Miller Peak Fire) Facebook page regarding the importance of a Red Flag Warning. Essentially, it means that extreme conditions will be influencing extreme fire behavior. That comes with a number of restrictions for use of fire in the area.”

As far as the statistics on the fire itself, Goldstein provided the numbers.

“The size of the fire today is 2,631 acres,” he said. “The fire is still listed as being 25 percent contained. There are 738 personnel on the fire, and that includes 26 engines, four helicopters, 18 hand crews, 12 water tenders, and 22 pieces of heavy equipment.”

The Evacuation Warning for the area remains in place, administered by the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.

UPDATE - 7/23/2024 1:44 PM:

According to Lolo Fire District Public Information Officer Jorista Garrie, the Miller Peak Fire is now 25 percent contained.

“Currently, we’re showing the fire at 2,581 acres, just 100 acres more than Monday,” began Garrie. “We’re showing the fire at 25 percent contained, with minimal growth. We currently have 703 personnel, 20 engines, three helicopters, 18 hand crews, 11 water tenders, and 18 pieces of heavy equipment on the fire.”

All evacuation warnings remain in place and are administered by the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.

UPDATE - 7/23/24 10:30 AM: A community meeting is planned to share fire information. It will be tonight from 7pm-8pm in the cafeteria at the Bonner Elementary School, 9045 Hwy 200 in Bonner according to the Miller Peak Fire Facebook page. There won't be an opportunity for a virtual option for this meeting. The plan is for the meeting to be recorded then uploaded to Facebook later.

UPDATE - 7/22/24 2:20 PM:

The Miller Peak Fire has achieved a milestone as of Monday, July 22.

I spoke with Public Information Officer Trainee Jaime Trivette who provided the numbers, including some progress on containing the fire.

“The fire now stands at 2,481 acres,” began Trivette. “We’re at 10 percent containment now. Total personnel on the fire is 674 including 18 engines, three helicopters, 17 hand crews, 11 water tenders and 21 pieces of heavy equipment.”

Trivette said officials understand that the fire behavior will change somewhat with an incoming weather system, but there are plans in place to mitigate any weather problems.

She expressed thanks for all the residents in the area that are using the roads and making room for all the firefighting vehicles.

UPDATE - 7/19/24 12:05 PM:

I spoke with Amanda Frickel, Public Information Officer, T-3, with the Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team Five who provided the most recent update on the fire.

“The fire is at 2,124 acres,” began Frickel. “We have 416 personnel, 10 engines, three helicopters, 11 hand crews, four water tenders, and 77 pieces of heavy equipment or iron.”

Frickel detailed some of the strategies utilized on the Miller Peak Fire by the new Incident Management Team.

“So far, we've done a couple of back burns or burnouts that seem to be assisting in directing where the fire is going,” she said. “The purpose of that is actually to burn all the fuel out so that the fire has nothing to burn when it gets there and is essentially stopped. That's the point of those burnouts.”

Frickel details more about the aerial attack on the fire.

“We do have a ‘helitech’ base that is now running out of Stevensville, so that's kind of new within the last couple of days,” she said. “So I do know that we have that in progress. Air ops and air support have been tremendous with that. It's all weather based, so it depends on inversions, it depends on what the weather is doing, how it cooperates, and then you know and need and the emergent situation with that is those all factored in.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

UPDATE - 7/19/24 9:36 AM:

According to the Lolo National Forest, the Miller Peak Fire has now burned 2,035 acres and containment is still at 0%. On Tuesday, the Lolo National Forest moved into Extreme Fire Danger. The weather outlook is predicting hot, dry, and gusty conditions, along with the chance of storms over the region for at least the next week.

Under Extreme Fire Danger, fires of all types start quickly and burn intensely. Fire Prevention Specialists across the Forest are urging the public to remain cautious and vigilant with campfires.

UPDATE - 7/17/24 10:04 AM:

According to the Lolo National Forest, the Miller Peak Fire has now burned 1,972 acres and containment is still at 0%. An area and road closure is in place on lands around the fire to ensure public and firefighter safety. Please respect all closure areas and allow firefighter crews, engines, and aircraft to work safely. This includes no drone flying in the temporary flight restriction area over the fire.

Lolo National Forest added that aviation and crews continued constructing and strengthening the line on the southern edge of the fire. They are progressing to Holloman Saddle and to the north toward Miller Peak. They said these actions are designed to protect the homes and structures in Miller Creek and the communications towers on Miller Peak.

They also reported that a temporary flight restriction is in effect over the fire area. An area and road closure around the fire is in effect due to hazardous conditions resulting from fire activity. Specific closure information and maps are posted on InciWeb at https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incid.../mtlnf-miller-peak-fire and https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/lolo/alerts-notices as they are implemented.

UPDATE - 7/16/24 2:15 PM: Five Valleys Land Trust has closed multiple trails according to a post on Facebook. "To support firefighting efforts on the Miller Peak Fire, the Skyline Ridge Trailhead, Inez Creek Trailhead, and Little Park Creek Trailhead on Mount Dean Stone have each been CLOSED until further notice."

They're also recommending, "...visitors stay away from the Upper Miller Creek and Mount Dean Stone Community Forest area."

UPDATE - 7/16/24 8:04 AM: As of Tuesday morning, the Miller Peak Fire has doubled in size and has burned over 1,700 acres.

An Evacuation Warning issued by the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office remains in effect. The warning covers Residents from 14380 Upper Miller Creek Road to the junction of the West Fork Schwartz Creek Road, and between West Fork Schwartz Creek Road to 7018 West Fork Schwartz Creek.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

UPDATE - 7/15/24 9:58 PM: The Miller Peak Fire burning just outside Missoula has grown since Sunday, according to Melanie Hobgood, the Public Information Officer with the Lolo National Forest.

I spoke to Hobgood after she received the latest briefing from the fire team.

“Our updated acreage right now is 800 acres, so up from 500 that we had reported earlier,” began Hobgood. “Crews were working down the Plant Creek Drainage, just basically working to secure that southern flank that's been less active now, so it's actually cooled down enough that they can get in there and start working on securing that flank up.”

All eyes were on the sky on Monday as the aerial show of tankers and helicopter bucket carriers worked the fire.

“I'm sure everybody saw there's a lot of aviation in the air,” she said. “We had air tankers and helicopters doing bucket drops on both the east and west flanks, just trying to slow their progression today. So it was quite an air show, mostly.”

Hobgood said the fire has reached a size where a Complex Incident Management Team will be taking over management on Tuesday morning.

“A Complex Incident Management Team is really great, because they take it off the district's plate for a little bit,” she said. “With fires like these, as everybody's seen, they can go on for a long time, so it's great to have these teams that come in that are full of highly qualified individuals, but it's also scalable, and they come in they have pre-defined roles so they're able to hit the ground running, and everybody already has their own department and structure formed.”

Hobgood described what will happen overnight and into the morning on Tuesday.

“It calms down at night, and then into the early morning hours, and then right about that critical burn period, early afternoon, about 1300 to 1400 (1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.),” she said. “Then, as the temperatures go up and the RHS (Relative Humidity) goes down, and then that wind picks back up, like I'm sure everybody felt this afternoon, then things get more active, just like we saw. The fire got a lot more visible in the afternoon when fire activity picked up. I think that will be the normal progression. It’s pretty typical to be a little slower while it's cooler and then starts picking back up as soon as the heat of the day comes.”

Hobgood said evacuation warnings remain in place, but there have been no official evacuations so far.

According to Inciweb, “Residents from 14380 Upper Miller Creek Road to the junction of the West Fork Schwartz Creek Road and then from the Junction of West Fork Schwartz Creek Road to 7018 West Fork Schwartz Creek Road are under an EVACUATION WARNING. While every effort will be made to first issue and Evacuation WARNING, please be aware that due to the possibility of rapidly changing conditions, an Evacuation ORDER may be issued with no prior notice or warning.

If you are not enrolled in SMART911, now is the time to do so. Log on to smart911.com and create your safety profile. This service will enhance your ability to receive alerts and provide information to responders to enhance your family's safety.

UPDATE - 7/15/24 12:46 PM: Happy Paws has shared via an app alert, "The fire evacuation zone has been updated and Happy Paws is no longer in the evacuation warning zone."

UPDATE - 7/15/24: Expect fire crews to work hard, especially with the aerial attack today, as they try and get a handle on the new Miller Peak Fire southwest of Missoula.

Lolo National Forest says the latest maps show the fire grew to more than 400 acres, with some estimates as high as 500 acres late last night.

The fire is burning in steep terrain above Plant Creek, about 8-air miles from Missoula. It started Sunday afternoon.

Residents at the handful of homes in the vicinity have been placed on an Evacuation Warning by the Missoula County Sheriff's Office. That's for people living between mile markers 13-15 along Miller Creek Road and houses from 14380 Upper Miller Creek Road to 7018 Upper Miller Creek Road. They're being contacted by deputies and warned to be on standby in case conditions change.

Local Business Happy Paws is located within the Evacuation Warning area and has alerted customers via app alert and Facebook that they "will not be providing daycare today or tomorrow (the 15th and 16th)." They go on to say "This could be extended, as fire conditions can change quickly."

Weather will continue to be challenging on this blaze, with winds of 10-20 miles per hour during the afternoon out of the WNW.

ORIGINAL STORY SUNDAY AFTERNOON:

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - The Miller Peak Fire is currently burning not far from Missoula.

I spoke with Lolo National Forest Public Information Officer Anna Bateson just after 6:00 p.m. on Sunday about the fire.

“The name of the fire is Miller Peak Fire,” began Bateson. “It's located in the Plant Creek Drainage around Miller Peak, in the Miller Creek area southeast of Missoula, eight miles, and it is currently estimated at 150 acres. It is showing active fire behavior, and the cause is under investigation.”

The Miller Peak Fire was at 150 Acres as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Bateson said the fire is being fought with both ground and air resources.

"They've got ground and air resources on the fire,” she said. “The air resources are on it right now (as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday). There are both air and ground resources and more were in route. I'm not sure if they're on scene yet.”

Both Ground and Air Resources Are on the Fire

Bateson said there are homes in the area, but the prevailing winds are sending the fire up the Miller Creek Drainage.

“I believe there are homes just below it. The information I have is that the fire was moving northeast up the Miller Creek drainage. Stay tuned for more information. It'll be posted on the Lolo National Forest Facebook page.”

Click here to see details from the Lolo National Forest.