Fast response limits Sunday Rocky Boy fire

Firefighters from multiple tribal agencies came together in rapid response to get a wildfire contained to minimal acreage in high winds on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation Sunday evening.

“Everybody pulled together and got this fire controlled, contained at 6.6 acres,” Chippewa Cree Natural Resources Fire Management Officer Jason Lodgepole said. “It could’ve been worse.”

A resident in the Parker School area at the east edge of the reservation near Taylor Road reported a grass fire at 5:20 p.m. The fire was quickly spreading northeast up a grassy slope toward pine trees and the ridge, and when the first fire truck arrived on the scene at 5:31 p.m. they observed 3- to 5-foot flames, Lodgepole said.

The flames were being pushed by a 19 mph wind out of the southwest that was gusting up to 34 mph.

After he and subsequent trucks arrived on scene, they decided to move their equipment and manpower out ahead of the fire to cut it off, Lodgepole said.

The fire crews had the fire contained to 6.6 acres by 8 p.m., he added.

Three Bureau of Indian Affairs engines used by Fire Management were on scene, along with support vehicles that included a Rocky Boy Volunteer Fire Department structure engine that provides water support.

In total, 14 people responded to the fire, from Fire Management and Rocky Boy Volunteer Fire Department, along with the tribal range manager and a Fish and Game employee who are both qualified fire ready, he said. And they were supported by Rocky Boy police directing traffic along the road and the dispatcher who directed services to the fire.

“A lot of good work by those individuals that came out,” he said. “They dropped everything that they were doing right there at the moment and they all responded. We’re really grateful to have them on our fire crews and to respond to the fires we have locally. They have a really good collaborative effort.”

After the fire was contained the crew started mop up of the perimeter and then hot spots in the interior where downed logs and thick duff were still smoking, Lodgepole said. This was all wrapped up by 11 p.m., but they left a crew on patrol to monitor the status of the fire overnight, while the wind not only remained, but also shifted to the northeast, blowing in a cold front with moisture.

Snow that fell in the early morning hours and throughout the day left more than an inch of ground cover, which helped with any hot spots, Lodgepole said, but it also made hiking the burn area a slipping hazard that will delay the last walk of the perimeter before the fire is declared out.

“We still have some work on it to do,” he added. “Once things dry out, we’ll go back up and look at it again then, and if it’s good we’ll declare it out at that time.”