Evacuation Orders as New Bitterroot Fire Blows up to 1600 Acres

It's not the most dramatic fire spread we've seen in the Bitterroot, but the new lighting-sparked Sharrott Fire burning west of Stevensville was angry enough to consume 1600 acres in hours.

That's forcing the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office to order new evacuation orders impacting a number of homes closest to the blaze in neighborhoods south of Kootenai Creek.

And fire crews will have their hands full keeping this one in check.

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A new fire west of Stevensville

The blaze, which started on the lower slopes of St. Mary's Peak, erupted just before 4 pm Friday, when a severe thunderstorm moved over the Bitterroot Front, with lightning starting the fire in the tinder-dry forest, with the blaze whipped by gusty winds.

Within a matter of minutes, there was heavy smoke seen from across the Bitterroot, and evidence of trees "torching", or igniting in the wind-driven conditions.

Initially, the fire was burning on the ridge between Sharrott and Silverthorne Creeks. That prompted the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office to issue an evacuation warning, with many residents immediately opting to load up their cars, trucks, and RVs and leave as a precaution.

The fire grew rapidly

In a little over an hour, the fire had burned an estimated 300 acres, and the Bitterroot National Forest ordered up air tankers and an incident response team. And for a while, the winds died and it appeared the fire's advance was slowing.

However, around 7 pm the fire flared up as it crossed the ridge line, with more torching sending flames more than a hundred feet in the air and creating spot fires down the face of the mountain.

Neptune Aviation tankers, assisted by a VLAT, or Very Large Tanker, and various smaller planes, made repeated retardant passes over the fire until they were shut down by darkness. Additionally, more than two dozen firefighters were already on the ground.

Evacuation orders

Just before 9 pm, the sheriff issued evacuation orders for these areas:

-Kootenai Creek, west of the intersection of Timber Trail, to include residences on Timber Trail.

-West, of the west side of Sharrott Hill Loop, to include residences on Blue Grouse Lane, Redtail Hawk Lane, and Porcupine Lane.

-Marmot Lane west of Saint Marys Road.

-Saint Mary's Lookout Road, west of the intersection of Saint Mary's Road.

RELATED: How to Prepare for a Montana Fire Evacuation

The earlier evacuation warnings covered:

-North Kootenai Creek Road and west of Wankantanka Way.

-Kootenai Creek Road West of Sharrott Hill Loop

-West of Salish Trail

-West of the intersection of Saint Marys Road and Salish Trail

-West of Saint Mary's Road to the intersection of Indian Prairie Loop

Major attack expected Saturday

Because of the fire's proximity to homes, a full Type 1 team, with more aerial support, will be mobilizing on the fire on Saturday.

There's also concern about the age of the forest, which records don't show as seeing any burns in modern times. The last major fire in that area was the 2009 Kootenai Creek Fire to the north, and the Lolo Peak Fire, which didn't go as far south as Stevensville in 2017.