On the slopes within the Liberty Fire there are completely charred ashy sections and pockets of unburned fuel called 'islands.' This creates a mosaic of burned and unburned areas of forest. Sometimes scorched trees survive but affected trees above roadways are cut to prevent hazards where the trees could fall and block the roads or injure someone.
An ashy draw beneath Black Mountain. After the fire burns through and is cold 'one chain' or 66 feet in from the fire's edge, restoration crews begin using BAER - Burn Area Evaluate and Repair. They clean up dozer lines and dirt piles, reseed and restore the landscape. This is necessary because spring runoff or heavy rains can wash topsoil, char and ash down into waterways, in this case Gold Creek. According to Liberty PIO Norm Rooker, fire runoff turns the water too acidic for fish. If that happens, FWP along with hydrologists, have a process of electrically stunning the fish, removing them from the water and taking them to a hatchery where they can remain healthy until the natural waters run clean again and can support the fish.
Water used on the Liberty Fire is drawn from Gold Creek and put into water tenders at the seven mile bridge beneath Sunflower Mountain. Helicopters also dip out of nearby mountain lakes. The water tenders bring the water up to different drop points on the fire and fill large red porta-tanks, inflatable pumpkins and refill the engines. Fire hose is connected to the containers and water is pumped through the hoses to the fire lines. There is more than 10 miles of fire hose laid out in the southwest corner of the Liberty Fire.
The Ruby Mountain Hot Shots from Elko, Nevada mop up beneath Black Mountain in the southwest corner of the Liberty Fire Aug. 31. All firefighters wear a Nomex shirt and pants that are fire resistant. They also wear natural fibers underneath because synthetic clothing will melt in a burn over situation. All firefighters carry a pack with food, water, other essentials and a fire shelter. A fire shelter is a last resort if a firefighter is unable to escape a fire. Despite safety precautions on the Liberty Fire, firefighters have endured a broken arm and a tree falling onto the bed of a moving vehicle as well as being surrounded by fire in the safe zone and shelter deployments. A group of 16 firefighters were trapped between a spot fire and the main fire Saturday afternoon near Liberty Creek. Thirteen escaped to their safety zone on the north side of Liberty Creek. The three others attempted to go downhill towards the engines but found themselves surrounded by heavy smoke and fire. While they started to deploy their fire shelters, the wind shifted and they were able to escape. No one was injured.
A dozer line runs up the hill between roads. It is "plumbed" with a hose lay. Firefighters patrol the line continuing to look for hot spots. Any heat is extinguished 66 feet, one chain, in from the edge to keep the fire from creeping over the line.
POTOMAC - On the morning of July 15, lightning struck near Liberty Creek, southeast of Arlee, Mont. and caused a wildfire which spread toward Placid Lake, the Rattlesnake Wilderness and the Gold Creek drainage on the north side of Potomac. The fire is west of the Belmont and north of Morrison Peak and Sunflower.
As of Sept. 5, the Liberty Fire was 22,360 acres and was 17 percent contained. There were more than 375 personnel working it.
On the Liberty Fire, safety and containment are the goals. It takes a lot of moving parts to try and contain a fire, said Norm Rooker, fireline medic and public information officer (PIO) from Nevada.
Safety comes in many forms for firefighters. There are always water and electrolyte-replacement drinks available to keep firefighters hydrated. Those catering meals for the firefighters must meet specific requirements to ensure caloric requirements are met.
Rooker said, "We do eat really [well]."
Monitoring smoke inhalation and general wellness are also a priority since wildland firefighters do not wear masks like structure protection firefighters do. Firefighters monitor themselves and safety officers and line medics offer additional medical support when needed.
Medical transport is an example of PAC, having a Primary, Alternate and Contingency plan. A four-wheel drive ambulance at the Liberty Fire is parked and ready near the lines in case medical care is needed. Local air ambulance service and aerial fire resources are also available to transport an injured firefighter if needed.
While the main fire camp is in Arlee, a spike camp is located at Cow Creek at the base of Sunflower Mountain. It remains ready to move if needed.
Rooker said three things seriously impact the ability to achieve containment: the fuels, the terrain and current and predicted weather. Depending on these factors, those in command establish objectives for the day and identify strategies. The pilots, equipment operators and crews develop tactics to meet the objectives.
Fires are fought using direct and indirect attack strategies. Lookout, Communication, Escape routes and Safety zones (LCES) is always in place while firefighters are on the line.
Direct attack is directly on the fire's edge and is the safest for firefighters. Indirect attack is away from the main fire in unburned fuel. This strategy is used when there is a safer or more defensible place to fight a fire. Firefighters often bring fire with them and burn out the unburned fuel between the indirect lines and the main fire once the indirect line is secure.
The Liberty Fire is primarily being fought indirectly because of the fire's intensity and terrain.
Firefighters can directly attack flames that are less than four feet tall. Once flame lengths exceed that, heavy equipment is needed. Equipment is effective until flame lengths are greater than eight feet. Aerial resources are then required.
Helicopters and fixed-wing planes drop retardant and water to cool the flame front and knock it down. This allows dozers and firefighters time to get close enough to directly fight the fire. If retardant and water drops are not followed up with equipment or firefighters, the fire will be unaffected by the water and retardant.
"Historically, fires in this area burn from the northwest to the south and east," said Rooker. The Liberty Fire is burning similarly to past fires.
Old logging roads and dormant dozer lines have been helpful in controlling the fire. They have been using water tenders and road graders on Gold Creek Road to maintain roadways with the heavy equipment traffic needed for the fire.
On the Liberty Fire there are no nighttime operations happening due to safety, only patrolling is taking place. According to Rooker, a nightly infrared flight at 3 a.m. is used to determine fire growth.
Communication is one of the moving parts in firefighting organization in addition to traffic control, medical, security, operations, planning, logistics and finance. Everyone has a radio because communication is vital on the fire lines in the different sections and on the one lane roadways.
No single state has all the resources for fighting fires, Rooker added. Resources go where they are needed most. States represented on the Liberty Fire include teams and a hot shot crew from Nevada, USFS staff from Utah and Florida and firefighters from Tennessee, Oregon and more.
The firefighters are working to suppress the Liberty Fire. According to Rooker, firefighters work until there is no source of embers or heat and the fire is "black in depth," one chain or 66 feet in. This is to ensure the fire doesn't creep across their line.
For the past 21 days, Taiga Rohrer's Great Basin Incident Management Team has managed the Liberty Fire. Starting Tuesday, Sept. 5, Greg Poncin's Northern Rockies Type 1 Incident Management Team took control. They are also managing the Rice Ridge Fire.
Even with the change in management, the number one priority remains, everyone goes home safely at the end of the day.
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