WEST GLACIER - People driving along U.S. Highway 2 near West Glacier should be prepared for intermittent, brief delays through October 20.
Flathead Electric Cooperative (FEC) crews are working along the highway to perform tree trimming and vegetation management around power lines to help mitigate the risk of wildfires.
“We wanted to prevent instead of look backwards through the eyes of disaster and really be prepared and protect our community,” said FEC Integrated Services Manager Amanda Opp.
Watch to learn more about the work being done to mitigate wildfire danger:
Flathead Electric Cooperative implemented a Wildfire Mitigation Plan in 2021 that helps manage and reduce the risk of the utility system causing or contributing to a wildfire. That plan is being put to use this week.
“What we were seeing out there in the west, is we were seeing wildfires start to happen, and we wanted to make sure that we got in front of anything happening on our system, we wanted to make sure that we’re really proactive, we didn’t want fires to come to our area and us not be ready for that," said Opp.
Crews will be working on a 20-mile stretch of Highway 2 between West Glacier and Pinnacle.
“We’re looking at hazard trees reducing that, reducing any fuel that’s near the line that can increase that fire near the line, so protecting that critical infrastructure is really important,” added Opp.
Opp said crews are using a slashbuster that mows down vegetation fuels around power lines and a Jarraff machine that can trim trees 75 feet off the ground.
“And then of course you have the most important part of the vegetation management crews, which are the people, and they’re pruning branches, they’re taking down hazard trees, and they are reducing all of these different elements that could be a potential ignition or anything that could cause harm to the reliability of the power lines.”
Flathead Electric Cooperative spokeswoman Courtney Stone said this work helps strengthen the electric grid for all FEC members.
“There’s 59,000 members in an area the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, so it’s a big responsibility and we take it very seriously,” said Stone.
