Wildfire
Prescribed Fire
Burned Area Response
OtherDivide Complex-Ellis Fire
Unit Information
Helena - Lewis and Clark National Forest
U.S. Forest Service
2880 Skyway Drive
Helena, MT 59602
Incident Contact
Fire Information
Phone: 406-426-9612
Highlighted Activity
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Notice: the incident management team has put the Ellis Fire in patrol status as of August 1, 2021. Firefighters will continue to monitor this fire as necessary, but additional growth is unlikely. Unless the status changes, this will be the last post for the Ellis Fire.
The Ellis Fire, which is being managed as part of the Divide Complex with the Balsinger Fire, started on July 8, 2021 on the White Sulphur Springs Ranger District of the Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest. The cause is under investigation. The fire is located in the Dry Range - East Fork, about 2.5 miles southwest of Smith River.
The Southern Area Incident Management Gold Team assumed command of the fire on July 23, 2021 at 0600 under the leadership of Incident Commander Debbie Beard. The fire is currently 70 percent contained and 1,277 acres.
Advisories
- Do not fly drones over the fire. If you fly, we can't.
- Please respect road closure. Traffic on closed roads creates safety hazards for firefighters and emergency vehicles.
- Firefighting resources are extremely limited. It is critically important that we all do our part to prevent additional fire starts by following all campfire restrictions and fire-related closures.
- The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest and the Custer Gallatin National Forest are under Stage 1 Fire Restrictions, which includes the use of charcoal grills. The Custer Gallatin also has restricted campfires in all locations.
Visit www.MTFireInfo.org for statewide fire restrictions information.
Please call 911 to report a wildfire.
Follow up on Facebook @HLCNF for the latest updates.
Basic Information
| Current as of | |
| Incident Type | Wildfire |
| Cause | Under Investigation |
| Date of Origin | Thursday July 08th, 2021 approx. 12:00 AM |
| Location | 20 miles NW of White Sulphur Springs |
| Incident Commander | Steve Parrish, ICT1 |
| Incident Description | The Balsinger And Ellis Fires Are Being Managed As The Divide Complex. Safety Of Fire Personnel And Protection Of Human Life Is The Priority. |
| Coordinates | 46.838 latitude, -111.272 longitude |
Current Situation
| Total Personnel | 227 |
| Size | 1,277 Acres |
| Percent of Perimeter Contained | 80% |
| Estimated Containment Date | Friday October 29th, 2021 approx. 12:00 AM |
| Fuels Involved | Fuels involved are primarily FM 2 (grass with timber litter) and FM 10 timber (heavy conifer with significant dead and down). |
| Significant Events |
|
Outlook
| Planned Actions | Point/Structure Protection, make sure livestock has been removed to a secure/safe area. Reassess the fire perimeter to establish new anchor points. Continue to work from and improve established anchor points. Continue preparation work on Divide Road. |
| Projected Incident Activity | Moderate fire behavior is expected over the course of the afternoon. Pockets of heat with visible smoke were present on the east side of Thunder Mountain and that activity is expected to increase over the course of the afternoon. Heat exists in the southeast corner as well that does have favorable slope alignment today. |
Current Weather
| Weather Concerns | Some rain yesterday afternoon and evening allowed for good RH recovery last night with clearing skies. Sunny skies this morning with light downslope flow along the slopes gave way to upslope flow this afternoon with increasing clouds over the higher elevations. A slight chance of thunderstorms will continue into the evening. Skies will clear again overnight. Ridgetop winds up to 20 mph will be from the north today and transition to east by Saturday. |
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