Often with fires on my district, we tend to get stuck in some drainage with limited views. Darkness & the ensuing morning light arrive without fanfare. This most recent fire however was the complete opposite.

About a week ago, we got a smoke report that there was a fire on Baldy Mountain, just outside Plains. We drove the engine & a chase truck out there, eagerly searching the horizon for smokes. Prior to us getting dispatched, a helicopter launched from Missoula.

Around the time we pulled up, the helicopter zoomed overhead, scouring the mountainside for the fire. After a brief search, the pilot had it spotted. It was just below the top. They dropped off two folks on the mountain itself & started doing bucket work while we began the hike up the trail. Two miles & about 1,500 ft of elevation gain later, we were at the top & helped button up the fire. Then we hunkered down for the evening, making dinner & getting our bed’s ready for the night.

When morning arrived, we trudged down to check on the fire, which consisted of only a couple smoking embers. Originally, the fire had crept out of a fire pit left by a careless hiker. The area around the pit was full of duff (a type of debris compounded over time where fires tend to burn for long periods of time left unchecked). We tore a bunch of the rocks apart, searching for the live embers & upon finding, tossed them in dirt (a technique called dry mopping).

The sunrise that day was spectacular. After making considerable progress towards putting the fire completely out, we broke for breakfast while the sun heated up the fire site. Often when the sun appears, it has a way of finding smoke & embers you missed. When the food was downed & the sun revealed no additional heat, we gridded one last time & headed back down the way we came. Another one for the books.