Sheriff’s Departments Saturday Lolo Peak Fire Updates – Missoula and Ravalli Counties

UPDATE - 6:00 p.m. Saturday, August 19

Here’s an injury update from the Lolo Creek Fire camp..

About about noon on Saturday, a firefighter was hit by a rock and took a fall near the ski area at McClain Creek. The firefighter sustained a broken arm and was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Missoula.

As more information is available, it will be sent out.

Message from Missoula County Sheriff’s Office

'The north side of Highway 12 is under evacuation ORDER, west of Stella Blue (not including Stella). This INCLUDES Sleeman Creek Road. Residents upon leaving, please check in at the evacuation trailer located on the east side of Highway 93 at Highway 12.

In addition,

For rumor control and/or misinformation please note, residents east of Travelers Rest are NOT under an evacuation ORDER and Highway 93 is NOT closed down. Should any of this change an alert will be put out.'
Message from Sheriff Steve Holton

'As of 1:30 p.m. today, there are no changes to Lolo Peak Fire Evacuation Areas in Ravalli County. As the burn period progresses, Unified Command is continually assessing the evacuation orders and areas.

As fire danger increases through the afternoon and evening, no one will be allowed into evacuated areas.

Access to residents is being evaluated several times a day with Unified Command, with a goal of identifying a safe window in the near future for residents to access their homes for a short period of time.

Residents in Warning areas are asked to prepare for the probability of an Evacuation Order. Moving livestock, pets, and personal property is recommended during the warning stage.

The Ravalli County Sheriff's Office is very appreciative of all our citizen's patience and cooperation during this time. We are working hard with Greg Poncin's Northern Rockies Type 1 Incident Command Team and the Lolo Peak Unified Command to allow citizens to return home as soon as fire affected areas are safe to do so.

Citizens are encouraged to download the Ravalli County Sheriff's app for mobile devices for information updates, and to sign up for AlertSense Emergency Notifications in Ravalli County.

Ravalli County Evacuation Information is available at 375-6650. A Fire Information Tent is located at Florence Farmer's State Bank, or by calling 406-272-5433.'