FLORENCE — From Florence to Sula, emergency responders are working together to battle new Bitterroot blazes.
Crews have successfully put out many fires from Saturday night’s storm, which hit Bitterroot National Forest with more than 500 lightning strikes, igniting at least 10 new fires.
“Once we hit this time of year, it's really a community effort of everybody working together,” Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton said. “We're fortunate to have great relationships amongst our firefighting community.”
Since the Lost Horse/Observation Point Fire broke out on Thursday, blazes have broken out across the valley — leaving responders with a lot to do.
“We've had several initial attack fires over the last several days that we've been thankfully able to get on top of and catch before they get too large,” said Dylan Wick, an assistant chief with the Florence Rural Fire District.
Saturday’s dry heat, high winds and thunderstorms did not help. The storm ignited several new fires that responders tackled over night. Holton said crews have been battling the fires on all fronts, from the Sheriff’s Office to the Forest Service to the many volunteer fire departments across the valley.
“Last night was really hectic,” Holton said. “We have to recognize the work done by 9-1-1 dispatchers and National Forest Dispatch, coordinating the response to the different fires, sending the right resources to the right places, and then those first responders that are getting there.”
Wick told MTN that the coordinated response comes from collaboration between responders across the valley.
“We work very closely with all of our partners up and down the valley. We know each other. We know each other on a first name basis. We're very close. We work together. We train together,” he said. “We have standard responses that we all adhere to.”
But, to help out first responders, Wick and Holton said people should stay aware of risks. They recommend watching carefully for any sparks and keeping up to date with fire information.
“I would say it's not a great idea to build a fire anywhere right now. They're getting out of hand really fast. The forest has responded to a lot of campfires that were not put out and starting these little fires,” Holton said. “Our resources are getting really stretched thin and some of those little fires could turn into a really big one.”
Holton told MTN that residents can expect to see some more smoke and some more emergency vehicles out in the valley in the next few days. But, thanks to the rapid response, many of the fires from Saturday’s storm are already out.
“It was bad enough, but it could have been could have left really lasting effects,” he said. “There was a lot of fires that just got put out last night that we're not having to worry about or deal with today.”
