Wicked Creek fire grows, evacuations expand

By MICHAEL BECKER, Chronicle Staff Writer

Fanned by gusty southwest winds, the Wicked Creek fire south of Livingston grew to between 3,000 and 5,000 acres Sunday, creating a column of smoke visible from Bozeman and forcing authorities to expand the evacuation area around the fire.

TIM KUPSICK/CHRONICLE Mike Nardella, left, Jeff Nardella and their father Jack Nardella, right, watch the Wicked Creek fire from Mill Creek Road on Sunday. "We're evacuating everything down to the pavement on Mill Creek," Park County Sheriff Allan Lutes said Sunday evening.

Another fire discovered in the Main Boulder drainage south of Big Timber on Sunday prompted more evacuations.

The Hicks Park fire in Sweet Grass County is estimated at 1,000 acres and is burning on the east side of the Main Boulder river, moving east in the Clear Creek drainage, Gallatin National Forest spokeswoman Marna Daley said.

Mandatory evacuations are in effect on that fire from the Fourmile cabin south to the head of the drainage, an area containing 30 homes, four church camps and one guest ranch.

More area may be evacuated on both fires as needed, Lutes said.

Evacuees from the Main Boulder area are headed to the civic center in Big Timber. The users of one church camp - numbering between 110 and 120 people - are already using the facility, according to Carrie O'Connell, Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator for Sweet Grass County.

‘‘I don't know about anybody who was staying, considering what the smoke column looked like,'' O'Connell said.

Evacuees from Mill Creek are gathering at the Emigrant Community Center, Lutes said.

Some residents refused the evacuation order Sunday, and Lutes had no estimate of how many people would be displaced. Park County reserve deputies and some Gallatin County deputies were helping with the evacuation.

Most of the burning on the Wicked Creek fire Sunday occurred along the fire's northeast and southwest edges and in pockets of unburned fuels the fire missed previously. The lightning-sparked fire started Thursday evening and is burning about 12 miles up Mill Creek in grass and timber.

But swirling winds made aerial surveillance and water drops ineffective on Sunday, Daley said.

‘‘As the winds came up, they were so strong, the aircraft weren't as successful as we would have hoped,'' Daley said.

The winds are forecast to continue for the next several days, accompanied by very warm temperatures and low humidity.

‘‘With the predicted weather conditions, we're likely to see continued growth,'' Daley said.

Crews on the ground spent most of the day clearing vegetation and laying hose lines near structures on private land near Passage Falls. Officials evacuated approximately 20 cabins in that area and near the Templed Hills church camp on Saturday.

A Type 3 Incident Management Team is setting up operations and about 20 firefighters are already working the fire, Daley said.

The fire is moving toward areas burned by last year's Passage Falls fire and 1991's Thompson Falls fire. The burned areas could act as natural firebreaks if the fire grows that far, Daley said.

Gusty winds also pushed the Columbine 2 fire in Yellowstone from 2,500 acres to 12,000 acres on Sunday, roughly the size of the city of Bozeman, prompting the park to close 25 miles of road from the park's east entrance to Fishing Bridge, according to National Park Service spokesman Al Nash.

‘‘This is a temporary closure,'' he said. ‘‘We do not know how long it will be necessary to keep the road closed. The fire has increased dramatically in size this afternoon because of the high, gusty winds.''

Meanwhile, a 10-acre lightning-caused fire in the Sunlight drainage 35 miles northeast of Livingston was discovered on Friday. A 20-person hotshot crew is working that fire.

A community information meeting about the fires will be held tonight at the Emigrant Community Center at 7.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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