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'July Fire' near Zortman reaches 10,542 acres, 50% containment

Derek Oshio and his family nearly always spend the Independence Day holiday at the Lori Nagel place in Zortman, and this July 3rd, that is where the brood found themselves when a fire erupted at the southwest corner of town.

Oshio said he and members of the family were playing in a creek near Alder Gulch when they smelled smoke and moments later the sky grew dark.

"As soon as the sun was blocked out, I got my family the hell out of the creek," Oshio said.

Oshio got his family back to Zortman about the same time Michael Nagel returned to town from a trip to purchase fireworks in Fort Belk-nap. Oshio and Nagel grabbed some shovels, a chainsaw, and some water bladders and then jumped on four-wheelers and headed toward Pony Gulch Road.

"That was completely overtaken by fire," Oshio said.

Oshio said he and Nagel followed the lower gulch all the way back to the 4-wheel trail and came upon where the fire started.

"We knew there was nothing we could do to put the fire out, but we were doing what we could to keep it from crossing the gulch," he said. "If the other side of the gulch would have caught fire, it would have been a nightmare for Zortman."

The 'July Fire' started at around 4:30 p.m. on July 3, and by July 5 had come within a quarter mile of Zortman, burning nearly 1,700 acres. Wildland firefighters from Bureau of Land Management, crews from BLM, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources, and Phillips County Firefighters and Sheriff's Office responded as 11 engines, one water tender, one Jump Plane (with eight Smoke Jumpers), one Lead Plane, four Single Engine Air Tankers and one Type-2 Helicopter responded during the initial breakout. As of Monday, July 10, according to BLM's July Fire Fact Sheet, the July Fire has burned 10,542 acres and 50-percent containment. A report on the BLM's InciWeb website states that there is currently 436 personnel working on the fire and the approximate estimated containment date is Friday, July 14.

"Crews were busy yesterday due to increased fire activity along Alder Gulch," the report states. "Crews continue to advance fire line construction on the northern fire boundary, improve existing fire lines, and work to improve contingency lines. Hays, Landusky, Zortman, and Lodgepole communities are being monitored for increased fire activity due to recent weather changes and possible erratic winds."

The fire is contained on the east flank and has not crossed state Route 66 to the south or 7-mile Road to the east, according to the report. The fire is within 1/2 mile of the Fort Belknap Reservation and Blaine County. The objective as of Monday afternoon was to contain the fire on the northwest flank within upper Mill Gulch and Alder Gulch, limiting fire effects to Landusky Mine site and Ft. Belknap Reservation.

Back on July 5, winds shifted and started pushing the fire toward Landusky and the next afternoon, 30 residents of the town were evacuated (though the residents have mostly returned home on Saturday and aside from an outbuilding, other structures around town were unscathed.) On the night of July 3rd, Phillips County Sheriff's Office Deputies blocked the road heading into Zortman turning non-residents away from town. The next day, the annual Fourth of July Parade was canceled.

The cause of the fire is under investigation but Oshio said he and Nagel were questioned by federal authorities about what they had seen and what they were doing in the area the afternoon the fire started. At one point in the interview, Oshio said he was shown a photograph of a white truck with Canadian license plates and asked if he had seen the vehicle on July 3.

"There were three vehicles that skinned out of there when the fire started," Oshio said. "The white pickup in the picture was one of them and it was a Canadian vehicle."

Oshio, a former member of the U.S. Army who served for one year in Iraq, said that the July Fire was the scariest thing he has ever lived through.

"The scariest part was when we were at the bottom edge of the mountain and we would look up at the top and literally everything, every tree was engulfed, everything was on fire up above us and we were there just trying to beat that bottom end of this thing saying 'please stop burning, please stop burning'."

He and Nagel stayed and fought the fire for about three hours until they were both exhausted. In the meantime, planes started dropping retardant on the fire and smokejumpers parachuted into the area. Oshio and Nagel made their way back to town and Nagel received medical treatment from EMTs on the scene.

High winds and temperatures and a lack of precipitation are predicted in the weather forecast this week as well as severe thunderstorms so Fire Weather Watch is in effect and a Red Flag Warning may be issued as the week progresses. Residents and visitors to the area should restrict use of off highway vehicles, ATV's, hiking, horseback riding, and other recreational activities in the fire area, and should remain well outside the fire perimeter. Post fire effects like fire weakened trees create additional hazards and firefighters are continuing to work in the area.

 

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