Fire threatens Red Lodge Ski Area
Red Lodge, MT - The Cascade Wildland fire, burning out of control 10 miles west of the Montana town of Red Lodge, has now scorched Custer National Forest timber within five miles of Red Lodge Ski Area as flames are steadily progressing toward the slopes.
Montana's Red Lodge ski area is currently being threatened by a fast-moving wildfire in Custer National Forest. (FTO file photo: Red Lodge)
At last report the fire has consumed 5,800 acres of heavy blown-down timber along the West Fork of Rock Creek, up from 2,200 acres only a day earlier, and is 0% contained despite the efforts of 114 firefighters on the ground and in air tankers. The fire west of the ski area was advancing toward the east. Air tankers dropped fire retardant on a ridge on Sunday to help protect the ski area, and more air drops were expected today.
"The ski area is a very high priority for everyone involved," said Tom Kuntz, Red Lodge volunteer fire chief, quoted by the Associated Press. "It's a significant economic driver for the community six months out of the year. By keeping the ski area viable, we keep the community viable."
Steep, rugged terrain is hampering firefighter efforts, as is the single-lane West Fork Road, a dead-end forest road that provides the only means of ground access to the fire. The area where the fire is burning experienced a significant wind event in November 2007, blowing down large areas of forest to provide the fire with ample fuel. No wildfire has burned the area in over 100 years.
The fire was first discovered on Saturday afternoon, and no cause has yet been pinpointed. Hikers, recreation residents and permanent residents from 80 to 100 homes have all been evacuated from the region. Five summer homes and an outbuilding in the Camp Senia area have already been destroyed. The county has ordered mandatory evacuations west of the intersection of Ski Run Road and West Fork Road as well as from the Grizzly Peaks subdivision, both about three miles west of Red Lodge.
Incident commanders report that the potential for growth of the fire is high at the current time.
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Fire threatens Red Lodge Ski Area
Started by Peter, Jul 28 2008 10:41 PM
17 replies to this topic
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Maybe Chairliftpaint will post some sweet pics
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Posted 29 July 2008 - 11:51 AM
Cascade fire 2 miles from ski area
Schweitzer: Fighting wildfire top priority; 5,800 acres charred
By LAURA TODE
Of The Billings Gazette Staff
RED LODGE - Red Lodge Mountain Resort is putting its snowmaking equipment to use in hopes of protecting the ski hill from the Cascade fire, burning less than two miles away in the West Fork of Rock Creek.
Ten guns, capable of spraying 85 gallons of water a minute are soaking the ground around chair lift terminals, motor rooms and the resort’s two lodges. The guns draw water from ponds near the top of the mountain.
“It looks like we’re making snow, but we’re just blowing water,” said Rob Ringer, general manager of the Red Lodge Mountain Resort.
The fire started about 11 miles west of Red Lodge on Saturday and by Monday had burned more than 5,800 acres of timber as well as four summer homes and an outbuilding at the historic Camp Senia. A building at the Montana State University research camp also burned.
The owner of one, Jim Moore, said his cabin was closest to where the fire began Saturday.
“It was doomed from the beginning,” he said. “I’m sure it was in ashes before the firetrucks even hit the Forest Service boundary.”
Moore said he is now concerned about his primary residence in town.
Monday, Gov. Brian Schweitzer was briefed by incident commanders and flew over the burn area.
Viewed from the air, pillows of dark smoke piled up to the ridge line on either side of the canyon. Flames could be seen shooting skyward as tree crowns were engulfed. Where the blaze passed, all that remained were the blackened skeletons of thousands of trees.
Schweitzer said the Cascade fire was the most dangerous to hit the state so far this year. He called it a top priority.
“I’d like to limit people’s expectations,” he said. “Not to be a pessimist, but if you get 25 to 35 mph winds, you’re not going to be putting people in front of it.”
The rugged canyon has made firefighting difficult, and there has been no way to contain the fire, Red Lodge Fire Chief Tom Kuntz said.
“The way the column is cranking up right now, it’s going to be 6,000-some (acres) by tomorrow morning, if not more,” said Jeff Gildehaus, a fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
Efforts are focused on protecting structures, including Red Lodge Mountain Resort and homes along the West Fork Road between the fire and town.
“My biggest fear all winter is 'will it snow?’ and my biggest fear all summer is 'is there going to be a fire?’ This is my worst fear,” Ringer said.
Work is under way to cut fire lines with a bulldozer along the ridge near the resort to stop the fire should it make a run at the ski hill, said Greg Poncin, the deputy incident commander for the Type I Northern Rockies Management Team. Additional fire lines are planned, and officials may start back burns if conditions are right, he said.
The fire is burning in dense timber, crisscrossed with blown-down trees from a wind storm last November. Winds usually howl down the canyon, and although winds were calm Sunday night and Monday, fire officials said they are expecting wind gusts up to 25 mph in the next few days, which would cause the fire to blow up.
“The fire will be weather-driven,” Poncin said. “It has the potential to move very quickly down this canyon.”
A cold front is predicted to pass through the area today, with it the potential for higher winds and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High winds would bring the potential for rapid fire spread that could trigger more evacuations toward Red Lodge, Gildehaus said in a 9 p.m. update.
Three helicopters dropped water on the fire Monday. However, fire managers said an air attack is limited by visibility, and large tankers that drop fire retardant cannot safely maneuver in the steep-walled canyon. Twenty-five loads of retardant were dropped on the north and east ends of the fire to slow the spread in those areas.
Hand crews were constructing line on the west end out of the drainage up onto the plateaus on both sides to begin flanking the fire.
Evacuation orders, which went into effect Sunday, remain in place, but no new evacuations were ordered Monday. Homes located above the Timbercrest Girl Scout Camp and Silver Run, Lamb Estates and Mountain Brook subdivisions - all on West Fork Road - were evacuated. No campers were at the Girl Scout camp.
Though not directly in the path of the blaze, about 90 homes in the Grizzly Peaks Subdivision were also evacuated. The subdivision has only one entrance/exit and the homes are situated in dense timber, Gildehaus said. An emergency evacuation of Grizzly Peaks would be risky, he said.
Kuntz warned that if the fire blows out of the canyon, his crews might not be able to protect the subdivision.
“The worst-case scenario is a real possibility. And in the worst-case scenario, we can’t put anybody on it in there,” he said.
Despite several cars left at trail heads in the area of the fire, the Forest Service said there are no known hikers or campers left in the backcountry.
“There’s nobody there that we know of,” Gildehaus said. “Nobody’s been waving their arms.”
Gildehaus said the size of the area makes it difficult to check every crack, but fire crews have swept from the Red Lodge Plateau to East Rosebud and from Lake Fork to Highway 212.
Gildehaus said vehicle retrieval is in progress for a man who was evacuated while hiking in West Fork and had to leave his truck behind. The man contacted the Forest Service and described his truck, allowing officials to positively identify it and make a plan to drive it out.
Other vehicles left at trailheads or campgrounds have not yet been identified by owners, Gildehaus said.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality on Monday classified the air quality in the Red Lodge area as “unhealthy.”
The elderly, smokers, children and people with respiratory or heart diseases are advised to stay indoors, limit direct exposure with the smoke and avoid physical exertion.
The Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce is looking for volunteers to staff a phone bank that will be the official contact point for questions about the fire. It is expected to be up and running today,
Beth Hutchinson, executive director of the Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce, said the phone bank will be at the Carbon County fairgrounds in Red Lodge. A phone number for the call center will be established as soon as the phones are installed. People should call the Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce at 406-446-1718 for information in the meantime, she said.
The center will have the capacity for 28 phones. Volunteer shifts will be four hours each, with three shifts each day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
In the event that the town of Red Lodge must be evacuated, residents will be notified by either a loud, continuous siren or a series of repeated siren blasts, Hutchinson said. MetraPark in Billings would host residents forced from the town, she said.
Volunteer firefighters from Red Lodge and surrounding fire districts stayed at Camp Senia late into the night Saturday, and although four cabins were lost, 20 were spared.
“The way the fire was going, pretty much everybody thought those homes wouldn’t be saved,” Kuntz said.
Sharon Butler found out Monday that her family’s summer home was still standing. She and her family were gone Saturday when the fire started and feared the worst until they got word from fire officials that their cabin was not touched.
The Butlers, who live in Kentucky, spend two months every summer at their cabin in Camp Senia, which has been in Sharon’s husband Ben’s family for almost 50 years.
“Every year, we count the days - the months - until we can get out here. It’s so wonderful,” Butler said.
John and Shirley Overton live in Grizzly Peaks and were evacuated during the Willie fire two years ago. Their past experience prepared them for Sunday’s evacuation, and they ended up taking fewer items this time, packing only a single truckload.
“There are things you know you can’t replace and the rest of it is just stuff,” Overton said.
In the Tipi Village subdivision, about five miles from the fire, homeowner Kyle Tompkins was ready Monday for a quick evacuation if the blaze moved his way.
“I did wet the grass a little bit, but what can you do?” asked Tompkins, 47, who works from a home office. “If it’s time, there’s not much a garden hose is going to do.”
Tompkins said he and others in Tipi Village had expected that a major fire in the mountains above their homes was “just a matter of time.”
Schweitzer: Fighting wildfire top priority; 5,800 acres charred
By LAURA TODE
Of The Billings Gazette Staff
RED LODGE - Red Lodge Mountain Resort is putting its snowmaking equipment to use in hopes of protecting the ski hill from the Cascade fire, burning less than two miles away in the West Fork of Rock Creek.
Ten guns, capable of spraying 85 gallons of water a minute are soaking the ground around chair lift terminals, motor rooms and the resort’s two lodges. The guns draw water from ponds near the top of the mountain.
“It looks like we’re making snow, but we’re just blowing water,” said Rob Ringer, general manager of the Red Lodge Mountain Resort.
The fire started about 11 miles west of Red Lodge on Saturday and by Monday had burned more than 5,800 acres of timber as well as four summer homes and an outbuilding at the historic Camp Senia. A building at the Montana State University research camp also burned.
The owner of one, Jim Moore, said his cabin was closest to where the fire began Saturday.
“It was doomed from the beginning,” he said. “I’m sure it was in ashes before the firetrucks even hit the Forest Service boundary.”
Moore said he is now concerned about his primary residence in town.
Monday, Gov. Brian Schweitzer was briefed by incident commanders and flew over the burn area.
Viewed from the air, pillows of dark smoke piled up to the ridge line on either side of the canyon. Flames could be seen shooting skyward as tree crowns were engulfed. Where the blaze passed, all that remained were the blackened skeletons of thousands of trees.
Schweitzer said the Cascade fire was the most dangerous to hit the state so far this year. He called it a top priority.
“I’d like to limit people’s expectations,” he said. “Not to be a pessimist, but if you get 25 to 35 mph winds, you’re not going to be putting people in front of it.”
The rugged canyon has made firefighting difficult, and there has been no way to contain the fire, Red Lodge Fire Chief Tom Kuntz said.
“The way the column is cranking up right now, it’s going to be 6,000-some (acres) by tomorrow morning, if not more,” said Jeff Gildehaus, a fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
Efforts are focused on protecting structures, including Red Lodge Mountain Resort and homes along the West Fork Road between the fire and town.
“My biggest fear all winter is 'will it snow?’ and my biggest fear all summer is 'is there going to be a fire?’ This is my worst fear,” Ringer said.
Work is under way to cut fire lines with a bulldozer along the ridge near the resort to stop the fire should it make a run at the ski hill, said Greg Poncin, the deputy incident commander for the Type I Northern Rockies Management Team. Additional fire lines are planned, and officials may start back burns if conditions are right, he said.
The fire is burning in dense timber, crisscrossed with blown-down trees from a wind storm last November. Winds usually howl down the canyon, and although winds were calm Sunday night and Monday, fire officials said they are expecting wind gusts up to 25 mph in the next few days, which would cause the fire to blow up.
“The fire will be weather-driven,” Poncin said. “It has the potential to move very quickly down this canyon.”
A cold front is predicted to pass through the area today, with it the potential for higher winds and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High winds would bring the potential for rapid fire spread that could trigger more evacuations toward Red Lodge, Gildehaus said in a 9 p.m. update.
Three helicopters dropped water on the fire Monday. However, fire managers said an air attack is limited by visibility, and large tankers that drop fire retardant cannot safely maneuver in the steep-walled canyon. Twenty-five loads of retardant were dropped on the north and east ends of the fire to slow the spread in those areas.
Hand crews were constructing line on the west end out of the drainage up onto the plateaus on both sides to begin flanking the fire.
Evacuation orders, which went into effect Sunday, remain in place, but no new evacuations were ordered Monday. Homes located above the Timbercrest Girl Scout Camp and Silver Run, Lamb Estates and Mountain Brook subdivisions - all on West Fork Road - were evacuated. No campers were at the Girl Scout camp.
Though not directly in the path of the blaze, about 90 homes in the Grizzly Peaks Subdivision were also evacuated. The subdivision has only one entrance/exit and the homes are situated in dense timber, Gildehaus said. An emergency evacuation of Grizzly Peaks would be risky, he said.
Kuntz warned that if the fire blows out of the canyon, his crews might not be able to protect the subdivision.
“The worst-case scenario is a real possibility. And in the worst-case scenario, we can’t put anybody on it in there,” he said.
Despite several cars left at trail heads in the area of the fire, the Forest Service said there are no known hikers or campers left in the backcountry.
“There’s nobody there that we know of,” Gildehaus said. “Nobody’s been waving their arms.”
Gildehaus said the size of the area makes it difficult to check every crack, but fire crews have swept from the Red Lodge Plateau to East Rosebud and from Lake Fork to Highway 212.
Gildehaus said vehicle retrieval is in progress for a man who was evacuated while hiking in West Fork and had to leave his truck behind. The man contacted the Forest Service and described his truck, allowing officials to positively identify it and make a plan to drive it out.
Other vehicles left at trailheads or campgrounds have not yet been identified by owners, Gildehaus said.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality on Monday classified the air quality in the Red Lodge area as “unhealthy.”
The elderly, smokers, children and people with respiratory or heart diseases are advised to stay indoors, limit direct exposure with the smoke and avoid physical exertion.
The Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce is looking for volunteers to staff a phone bank that will be the official contact point for questions about the fire. It is expected to be up and running today,
Beth Hutchinson, executive director of the Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce, said the phone bank will be at the Carbon County fairgrounds in Red Lodge. A phone number for the call center will be established as soon as the phones are installed. People should call the Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce at 406-446-1718 for information in the meantime, she said.
The center will have the capacity for 28 phones. Volunteer shifts will be four hours each, with three shifts each day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
In the event that the town of Red Lodge must be evacuated, residents will be notified by either a loud, continuous siren or a series of repeated siren blasts, Hutchinson said. MetraPark in Billings would host residents forced from the town, she said.
Volunteer firefighters from Red Lodge and surrounding fire districts stayed at Camp Senia late into the night Saturday, and although four cabins were lost, 20 were spared.
“The way the fire was going, pretty much everybody thought those homes wouldn’t be saved,” Kuntz said.
Sharon Butler found out Monday that her family’s summer home was still standing. She and her family were gone Saturday when the fire started and feared the worst until they got word from fire officials that their cabin was not touched.
The Butlers, who live in Kentucky, spend two months every summer at their cabin in Camp Senia, which has been in Sharon’s husband Ben’s family for almost 50 years.
“Every year, we count the days - the months - until we can get out here. It’s so wonderful,” Butler said.
John and Shirley Overton live in Grizzly Peaks and were evacuated during the Willie fire two years ago. Their past experience prepared them for Sunday’s evacuation, and they ended up taking fewer items this time, packing only a single truckload.
“There are things you know you can’t replace and the rest of it is just stuff,” Overton said.
In the Tipi Village subdivision, about five miles from the fire, homeowner Kyle Tompkins was ready Monday for a quick evacuation if the blaze moved his way.
“I did wet the grass a little bit, but what can you do?” asked Tompkins, 47, who works from a home office. “If it’s time, there’s not much a garden hose is going to do.”
Tompkins said he and others in Tipi Village had expected that a major fire in the mountains above their homes was “just a matter of time.”
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- Peter<br />
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Posted 30 July 2008 - 06:05 AM
A good friend of mine is on his way to Red Lodge to take the Mountain Manager's position - hope he has a place to work at - not just a total rebuild.
Good Luck, Red Lodge!
Dino
Good Luck, Red Lodge!
Dino
"Things turn out best for the people that make the best of the way things turn out." A.L.
#7
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Posted 30 July 2008 - 06:30 AM
Last I heard (about noon yesterday), was that the fire was about two miles from the top of the cole creek detach and was nearing the top of the ridge. There's a lot of down timber in the saddle between the top of cole creek and the top of griz.
Good luck guys!
Good luck guys!
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Posted 30 July 2008 - 07:28 AM
Didn't Sun Valley run their lifts to keep the hual ropes from becoming too hot? Red Lodge should do the same, or maybe it's too late.
- Jeff
Why couldn't they of come up with "Global Cooling"?
Why couldn't they of come up with "Global Cooling"?
#9
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Posted 30 July 2008 - 08:15 PM
Wildfire Advances on Red Lodge Ski Area
Red Lodge, MT - A massive Montana wildfire that has already consumed over 7,000 acres of Custer National Forest made a run Wednesday on Red Lodge Ski Area.
As of early this evening flames have charred 7,539 acres, a massive increase over the 5,936 acres burned as of only 10 hours earlier. The Cascade Wildlands Fire, whipped by 30 mile-per-hour winds, advanced north and east on Wednesday through heavy blown-down timber from a November 2007 wind event to skirt a fire retardant line protecting the ski area, and is now within a mere mile and a half of the chairlift summit. Officials say that the fire is only five percent contained, and 496 firefighters are busy digging fire lines and fighting the fire, up from 114 on Monday. Crews have been hampered by limited road access to the steep, rugged terrain surrounding the West Fork of Rock Creek where the fire is burning.
Fire officials have issued voluntary evacuation orders from the ski area, in addition to earlier evacuation orders for 90 homes near the ski area's base and another 200 homes in the Grizzly Peaks subdivision already in place. Despite the evacuations, ski area staffers reportedly remain at the base area, watering down buildings with snowmaking equipment. Five summer homes and an outbuilding in the Camp Senia area have already been destroyed.
The fire was first discovered on Saturday afternoon. A cause has yet to be determined.
Red Lodge, MT - A massive Montana wildfire that has already consumed over 7,000 acres of Custer National Forest made a run Wednesday on Red Lodge Ski Area.
As of early this evening flames have charred 7,539 acres, a massive increase over the 5,936 acres burned as of only 10 hours earlier. The Cascade Wildlands Fire, whipped by 30 mile-per-hour winds, advanced north and east on Wednesday through heavy blown-down timber from a November 2007 wind event to skirt a fire retardant line protecting the ski area, and is now within a mere mile and a half of the chairlift summit. Officials say that the fire is only five percent contained, and 496 firefighters are busy digging fire lines and fighting the fire, up from 114 on Monday. Crews have been hampered by limited road access to the steep, rugged terrain surrounding the West Fork of Rock Creek where the fire is burning.
Fire officials have issued voluntary evacuation orders from the ski area, in addition to earlier evacuation orders for 90 homes near the ski area's base and another 200 homes in the Grizzly Peaks subdivision already in place. Despite the evacuations, ski area staffers reportedly remain at the base area, watering down buildings with snowmaking equipment. Five summer homes and an outbuilding in the Camp Senia area have already been destroyed.
The fire was first discovered on Saturday afternoon. A cause has yet to be determined.
- Peter<br />
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skier691
Posted 31 July 2008 - 05:19 PM
A on-scene source (High Peaks Paint Crew) stated that the guns were left spraying on the summit terminals just before 'everyone' pulled off this morning. Didn't sound good. Hopefully they can keep flying and bombing. Upside?? new glade terrain? Good Luck.
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Posted 01 August 2008 - 10:01 AM
NON ESSENTIAL STAFF EVACUATED FROM RED LODGE: FOREST FIRE THREATENS RESORT, ONLY 5% CONTAINED
SAM Magazine--August 1, 2008--All non-essential staff have been evacuated from Red Lodge Ski Area. Mont., in the face of a fast-moving wildfire that is threatening the resort. The Forest Service has approximately 700 firefighters and support staff battling the blaze. But with high winds expected and only 10-percent of the conflagration contained, the situation remains tense.
The incident flared approximately 6 miles from Red Lodge, in the West Fork Canyon on July 30. Within one day, the blaze had doubled in size and the fire started to threaten the ski area.
According to the USFS’s InciWeb, which monitors and tracks wildfires, a cold front moved through the area last night, assisting suppression efforts. The weather event brought winds to the northwest, blowing the fire back upon itself.
As of today, August 1, crews and helicopters are focused on containing numerous spot fires on the northeast corner of the fire caused by yesterdays wind event and structure protection is in place at Red Lodge.
Brian Scheid of High Peaks Chairlift Painting, is on the scene with a crew from High Peaks for a lift makeover. Scheid assisted the mountain staff with snowmaking equipment fire suppression preparation, and he paints a vivid picture of the situation at the resort two days ago:
“This afternoon we took the trip to the summit of the mountain to see the fire from the mountain’s highest point. Several places around the mountain and across the whole fire are lookout posts where fire bosses communicate with the helicopter pilots and fire base in town to give up-to-the-minute reports on wind, humidity, wind speed and temperature. As we were sitting there with them, the winds picked up to over 20 mph and the smoke had increased dramatically. The fire boss from the DNR told us to make sure we were ready to go with snowmaking when the time came.
So we took a short ride with the Polaris to the summit where the 8 guns were placed. These guns were pointed toward buildings and the chairlifts. As we were on the summit the call came over the radio to me to immediately start the guns and get off the summit quickly.
There were about four fire pickup trucks on the top with us. These firefighters were also made aware to get to the bottom of the hill immediately. We all had never seen firefighters so scared. They looked like they had seen a ghost. There faces, expressions and words said it all. Get the hell off this mountain! My crew witnessed flames on the ridge in back of the mountain. Well, this ridge was the point where if flames were spotted, to move quickly to a safe zone. As we flew down the mountain we turned on what guns we could and met in the base parking lot so they knew we were all accounted for. We then hung out by the base lodge with the GM, government officials, mountain staff, local fire officials and the DNR. It was total panic and chaos. After about an hour hanging around the bottom we were told to evacuate the mountain. So we loaded our trailers and left. We can only watch it burn from our condo now. We will know soon if Red Lodge Mountain will have a ski season this year. If they let us up the mountain to help, we will be there tomorrow. But I am assuming we will be told to stay home.”
As of today, Scheid reports that things are, “quite a bit different from yesterday. Calmer winds kept the fire under control from coming over the mountain. Small parts of the resort are burning, but are being hit with water drops. Every lift and building now has dozens of sprinklers and snowguns to keep them protected.”
SAM Magazine will continue to update this story as new information becomes available.
SAM Magazine--August 1, 2008--All non-essential staff have been evacuated from Red Lodge Ski Area. Mont., in the face of a fast-moving wildfire that is threatening the resort. The Forest Service has approximately 700 firefighters and support staff battling the blaze. But with high winds expected and only 10-percent of the conflagration contained, the situation remains tense.
The incident flared approximately 6 miles from Red Lodge, in the West Fork Canyon on July 30. Within one day, the blaze had doubled in size and the fire started to threaten the ski area.
According to the USFS’s InciWeb, which monitors and tracks wildfires, a cold front moved through the area last night, assisting suppression efforts. The weather event brought winds to the northwest, blowing the fire back upon itself.
As of today, August 1, crews and helicopters are focused on containing numerous spot fires on the northeast corner of the fire caused by yesterdays wind event and structure protection is in place at Red Lodge.
Brian Scheid of High Peaks Chairlift Painting, is on the scene with a crew from High Peaks for a lift makeover. Scheid assisted the mountain staff with snowmaking equipment fire suppression preparation, and he paints a vivid picture of the situation at the resort two days ago:
“This afternoon we took the trip to the summit of the mountain to see the fire from the mountain’s highest point. Several places around the mountain and across the whole fire are lookout posts where fire bosses communicate with the helicopter pilots and fire base in town to give up-to-the-minute reports on wind, humidity, wind speed and temperature. As we were sitting there with them, the winds picked up to over 20 mph and the smoke had increased dramatically. The fire boss from the DNR told us to make sure we were ready to go with snowmaking when the time came.
So we took a short ride with the Polaris to the summit where the 8 guns were placed. These guns were pointed toward buildings and the chairlifts. As we were on the summit the call came over the radio to me to immediately start the guns and get off the summit quickly.
There were about four fire pickup trucks on the top with us. These firefighters were also made aware to get to the bottom of the hill immediately. We all had never seen firefighters so scared. They looked like they had seen a ghost. There faces, expressions and words said it all. Get the hell off this mountain! My crew witnessed flames on the ridge in back of the mountain. Well, this ridge was the point where if flames were spotted, to move quickly to a safe zone. As we flew down the mountain we turned on what guns we could and met in the base parking lot so they knew we were all accounted for. We then hung out by the base lodge with the GM, government officials, mountain staff, local fire officials and the DNR. It was total panic and chaos. After about an hour hanging around the bottom we were told to evacuate the mountain. So we loaded our trailers and left. We can only watch it burn from our condo now. We will know soon if Red Lodge Mountain will have a ski season this year. If they let us up the mountain to help, we will be there tomorrow. But I am assuming we will be told to stay home.”
As of today, Scheid reports that things are, “quite a bit different from yesterday. Calmer winds kept the fire under control from coming over the mountain. Small parts of the resort are burning, but are being hit with water drops. Every lift and building now has dozens of sprinklers and snowguns to keep them protected.”
SAM Magazine will continue to update this story as new information becomes available.
No, I will be the pattern of all patience; I will say nothing.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
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Posted 02 August 2008 - 04:22 AM
Skier, on Jul 30 2008, 10:15 PM, said:
Wildfire Advances on Red Lodge Ski Area
Red Lodge, MT
Red Lodge, MT
The US Forest Service updates for this fire are on Inciweb at
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1438/
click on Image link to see current size of fire
#15
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Mountain Operations
Posted 06 August 2008 - 04:01 PM
Some bad news from the Shasta Trinity area........S-61 goes down
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cr...0,6395969.story
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cr...0,6395969.story
...Mike
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Posted 07 August 2008 - 05:16 AM
mikest2, on Aug 6 2008, 06:01 PM, said:
Some bad news from the Shasta Trinity area........S-61 goes down
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cr...0,6395969.story
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cr...0,6395969.story
I hate it when that happens...R.I.P.
Dino
"Things turn out best for the people that make the best of the way things turn out." A.L.
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Posted 08 August 2008 - 08:40 PM
mikest2, on Aug 6 2008, 05:01 PM, said:
Some bad news from the Shasta Trinity area........S-61 goes down
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cr...0,6395969.story
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cr...0,6395969.story
I've flown a lot of towers with Carson, not sure if it is the same S-61 but they had some great pilots, what a sad day. RIP.
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