The Garceau Fire that has been burning on the Flathead Reservation since August 16 is now in the clean-up phase after reduced winds and driving rain that occurred over the weekend.
We News spoke Monday morning with CT Camel, fire information officer for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, for an update on the blaze that had scorched nearly 7,000 acres over the weekend. .
“Over the weekend, the Incident Three crews and crew were able to work around the issue and pull off a burnout that stopped the head of the fire,” Camel said. “Then the next day is when the rains came and hit the fire and knocked it down for the firefighters and now we’re in the clean-up phase, checking the perimeters for hot spots.”
Camel said investigators believe the Garceau fire was man-made and the root cause was a faulty electric fence.
“It was a fire caused by one person, and it appears to be due to an electric fence,” he said. The fire broke out on Tuesday August 16e and at one point there were 340 people on fire. It has reached 6,724 acres and as of this (Monday) morning, the fire is 40% contained. »
Camel provided a brief prognosis for the future of Garceau’s fire.
“I think in the next two days we’ll be windy, you know, it’s going to be hot again, they’ll be looking to keep everyone around for the next two days,” he said. “Then, if nothing happens, then I think they will start transitioning to maybe a type four organization and they will start cutting some resources. Before it becomes a type four fire, we have aviation crews and other equipment, when it starts to be a bigger incident. Then you start going to type three and type two and then type one.
Temperatures will remain in the mid to high 90s in the region this week.
According to Inciweb, there are no evacuations and there are no structures under threat at this time. Irvine Flats and Garcon Gulch roads leading to Windy Gap are closed to through traffic.
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