Things were changing fast out in the woods.
High winds blew in late in the day, pushing the 3,000-acre Tarkio fire's northern edge to within not miles, but minutes of a high-voltage Bonneville Power Administration power line and forcing several Hotshot crews to scramble to safety, Sandman said.
At 6 p.m., the Tarkio fire was estimated to be two hours from the power line.
By 7:06 p.m., fire and smoke had reached the transmission towers and caused the first line carrying 500-kilovolts of electricity to arc and shut down. By 7:12 p.m., flames reached the second 500-kilovolt line.
At 9:30 p.m., in the last moments of daylight at the Ninemile fire camp, huge columns of smoke could still be seen rising from the fire, and not all of the fire crews that were on its volatile northeastern edges had been accounted for, said fire information officer Tom Rhode.
How large the fire had grown or would continue to grow in the darkness was anybody's guess, Rhode said. Unpenetrable smoke lay over the burned area, and only a late-night flight with infrared equipment would be able to fully assess the situation.
"What we do know is that the Tarkio fire became active around 4:20 p.m. and made significant runs and jumped containment lines on both the north and east sides," Rhode said.
When the fire tripped the power line and forced it to shut down, BPA customers did not lose electrical power, Rhode said. BPA officials had been preparing for a worst-case scenario and had earlier identified alternative lines to divert electricity, so they swiftly switched power to those lines, Rhode said.
Meanwhile, as the Tarkio gained steamed, the nearby West Mountain fire was fairly quiet Wednesday. However, crews working on the north side of the fire were forced to retreat to safety zones because heavy smoke from the Tarkio fire threatened their safety and work.
"It was difficult to see where the fire was," Rhode said, "so they had to pull back."
The Interstate 90 fires were ignited last Thursday - Aug. 4 - either by arson or a vehicle. As many as 22 wildfires were originally burning; two fires remain, the most significant of which is the Tarkio.
Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at bcohen@missoulian.com.
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