Fire season kicks off with Horse Gulch, Miller Peak and Deadman fires

A smoky sky set the scene for Gov. Greg Gianforte’s fire briefing on Tuesday, July 16. Standing on a boat launch beside Canyon Ferry Lake, Gianforte listened to updates on the Horse Gulch Fire from Incident Commander Scott Schuster. The report marked the first day the fire was brought under partial containment. 

Speaking to reporters after Schuster’s remarks, Gianforte mirrored the commander’s confidence.

“We have fire season every summer. We prepare for it all year long,” Gianforte said in response to a reporter’s question. “The state’s ready.” 

The Horse Gulch Fire began on Tuesday, July 9, and has been attributed to unspecified human activity. The fire lines ran along Jimtown Road to the west and Canyon Ferry Road to the south. By Friday, July 19, the fire’s 14,814 burned acres remained south of the community of York and west of Hellgate Gulch, and was 40% contained.

Further west, the Miller Peak Fire continued to grow 8 miles southeast of Missoula, with 416 responders tending to the 2,035-acre fire. The blaze posed risks to private residences as well as road, railroad and powerline infrastructure, according to Inciweb. With the fire 0% contained, emergency response authorities on July 15 issued an evacuation warning for residents north of 14380 Upper Miller Creek Road and south of West Fork Schwartz Creek Road.

Across the state, almost 100 miles southeast of Billings and just 35 miles north of the Wyoming border, the Deadman, McGhee, Four Mile and Prairie fires burned close together, encompassing a combined 38,958 acres. Despite their proximity, responders say they don’t expect the four fires to merge. As of Friday, July 19, parts of both Big Horn and Rosebud counties remain under evacuation warnings as 358 responders work to keep the flames under control. 

According to Travis Booth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula, next week’s weather patterns could change wind, temperature and precipitation conditions. Montana currently sits underneath a high-pressure ridge — a meteorological phenomenon that produces hot and dry conditions. The ridge is likely to break down during the latter part of next week, which could have a mixed impact on ongoing fires.

“Typically we’d see an increase in winds,” Booth said, adding that the breakdown could also lead to cooler temperatures. “And then we’ll have to keep an eye out for showers and thunderstorms,” Booth said.

“We can’t counteract the weather,” Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director Amanda Kaster said Tuesday on the shores of Canyon Ferry Lake, emphasizing the importance of good wildland maintenance and proactive fire prevention. “That’s been a really important priority of the governor and I,” Kaster said. “We need to be managing our forests better.”

With months of fire season ahead, upper-level leadership expressed confidence in the state’s overall firefighting approach.  

“We have a mandate to do ‘aggressive initial attack,’” Kaster said, referencing a strategy rooted in early and thorough firefighting deployments. “And so as these fires continue to pop up and evolve, we’re going to be responding in that exact manner.”

This story was updated on July 20, 2024, to correct the spelling of Amanda Kaster’s name.