Fire burns over Ravalli Hill
courtesy photo
A fire burns over Ravalli Hill the evening of Thursday, June 30.
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ST. IGNATIUS – Fire burned hot through the brush on Ravalli Hill starting along U.S. Highway 93 on Thursday, June 30, at about 6 p.m.
“The cause of the fire is still under investigation,” CSKT Fire Prevention Specialist C.T. Camel said from the scene in a phone interview.
Flames grew on the south side of the highway, across from the Bison Range, growing to about 500 acres. It burned mostly brush and a bit of timber. It was still burning Friday morning. “It was hectic last night, but it died down this morning,” Camel said.
Fire officials decided to evacuate Pinehaven on Pistol Creek Road, which is a Christian children’s ranch where children and staff live.
“The fire didn’t get close to them, but they were evacuated as a precaution,” he said adding that everyone went back home on Friday morning.
Heavy equipment including a skidgen was brought in to build a fire line. “It’s like a skidder but with rubber tires and a tank,” he said.
Hand crews worked at building a line around the steeper edges of the fire.
“We will be out here for a couple days working on this,” he said.
Fire crews including CSKT Incident Commander Ron Swaney continued to watch the smoldering flames while under hot, dry conditions.
“We will be out here watching it,” Camel said.
Several volunteer fire departments responded to the scene along with the CSKT Division of fire on Thursday including St. Ignatius, Arlee, Charlo, and Ronan.
Camel isn’t sure what the rest of the fire season will look like this year. He said, at this time, conditions aren’t as dry as they were last year.
“We’ve had a wet June,” he said. Although, that could mean that increased plant growth might create more fuel for fires later in the season.
