Crews give operational insight into mobilizing for the Sharrott Creek Fire

The Sharrott Creek fire burning west of Stevensville was sparked by lightning from Friday night's storm.

The fire sits at 1,012 acres — as of 5 p.m. on Saturday — after mappers could fly over the perimeter.

It's been all hands on deck since it sparked with firefighters — many of them local volunteers — on the ground and in the skies working around the clock, doing their best to protect the neighborhoods near the wildfire. "[Volunteers] would have to go to work after being up all night then coming back to do the same thing," shared Corvallis Rural Fire District Assistant Chief Roger Rahmsdorf.

As the Sharrott Creek Fire blew up, volunteers from Bitterroot Valley fire departments got the call to put on their nomex gear and hit the front lines. "All the volunteers got assembled by the fire warden for the county. He managed to get ahold of all the chiefs and asked if they had some people and engines that could respond for at that point, a night shift," explained Rahmsdorf.

Most likely, many were working and had to adjust quickly to protect the Stevensville community. Rahmsdorf told MTN, "I appreciate the employers who allow their employees to come and answer emergency calls because there's nobody else here to do it."

As of Saturday, there are 130 firefighters on the Sharrott Creek Fire with more on the way. "What we've heard from the crew is this fire, it's in a very difficult piece of terrain. It's exhibiting extreme fire behavior, spotting, running, torching, heavy dead and down. It's made it roughly to the forest boundary with private properties," detailed Stevensville Ranger District Fire Management Official Greg Anderson.

Plus, air attack has been working tirelessly to douse the flames with water and retardant. "People can expect to see helicopters, air tankers working down low near the valley bottom. Even with national resource shortages, we're getting the resources that we need to stabilize this complex and emerging incident," stated Anderson.

There is an information trailer set up for residents with questions at the Super 1 Foods on Highway 93 S in Stevensville.

We will continue to keep you updated as we get more information.