Wind driven fire in Montana

I was checking out the wildland fire hotlist forums this morning when I saw this thread about the Stump Gulch Fire. According to the wildland fire thread, the fire was first reported on Saturday August 21 west of Billings, Montana and north of I-90. I believe that the fire has burned about 6,000 acres as of Sunday evening (August 22). I found a link to reports from KULR-8 out of Billings Montana. I watched the video (from their Sunday evening broadcast?) and was struck by the reports of 40 mph winds that had driven the fire making containment efforts difficult.

More to the point for aerial wildland fire fighting is that winds grounded the helicopters that had been working the fire. I understand that grounding the helos can hinder the containment efforts of the ground crews working the fire. However, in my opinion, it is better that the helos were grounded because it was too windy for them to fly than to risk an accident.

I do hope that winds die down soon so that the helos can fly again. Of course, an added benefit to lower wind speeds is that the ground crews working the fire might find conditions more favorable for containing the fire.

I should say that I know that wind driven fires are not uncommon, that there are many such fires that happen across the U.S. and outside the U.S. that I don't write about. I just happened upon this one, along with the video from KULR 8. Winds are of concern in wildland fire fighting, both in the air and on the ground.

Here are some photos of the Stump Gulch Fire that individuals sent to KULR-8