Sheep Gap Fire, September 11, 2017 ~ Day 14

This afternoon the sun came out for a while and much of the fire activity shifted toward the west so I went down there to get a visual fire update from that end.

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Denizen of the log deck

This little Cottontail has been hanging out right next to the log deck lately. After I have cut all of the wood that I will need for this winter there will still be a lot of logs left. I will cover them to keep the snow off and that will create a wonderfully safe, dry shelter where he will most likely live all winter.

Sheep Gap Fire, September 10, 2017

For the past week the Sheep Gap Fire, which is now one of six fires in what has been named the “Highway 200 Complex”, has been completely hidden in smoke which has been held on the valley floor by an inversion layer. That caused lower temperatures and reigned in the fire somewhat allowing the fire crews to construct dozer lines in front of it on the north and east sides, protecting the homes there. So far no homes have been lost.

Yesterday afternoon a west wind came up which cleared out a lot of the smoke, making some of the fire area visible again. The first of the following pictures was taken last evening, the rest this morning.

Sheep Gap Fire, Night of September 2, 2017

The fire has gotten much worse. Hopefully it will settle down later tonight. The flames and coals are spread over more than a mile east and west and come way down the mountain.The last three photos were taken at about 8:30 tonight, the first one from my driveway an hour earlier.

Sheep Gap Fire, Morning of September 2, 2017

The fire is building up again this morning after some pretty good activity during the night. Here are a few photos of a water drop by a big helicopter this morning

Here’s a closer look at the big helicopter as it is taking on more water from the river.

Sheep Gap Fire September 1, 2017

The Sheep Gap Fire here in western Montana has expanded into a rather large fire and is now threatening homes on two sides of its perimeter. For the next few weeks (hopefully not months) I plan to document its progress on the blog.

As of last night I will also again have the privilege of being a member of the Plains/Paradise Rural Fire Department and so I expect to be busy, but as time permits I will take and post what photos I can of the fire activity and the fire progress.

These photos (except for the last one which was taken two nights ago) were taken of two small helicopters that are dropping water on the fire this morning. Resources are very scarce now with all of the fires burning in this part of Montana.

This last photo was taken two nights ago when there was a clear view of the flames.