YORK — Last summer, the Horse Gulch Fire burned 15,000 acres, and on Thursday, residents from the area toured the burn scar site for a firsthand look at active forest management with the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest.
“Seeing that big burn scar, it is kind of depressing a little bit, but at the same time, we can see the grasses coming back, the shrubs growing, and
I heard some flickers in the background,” said Stephanie Witham, an attendee on the tour
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Witham lives in Helena and was evacuated by the North Hills fire in 2019. Living through a fire evacuation, she came out to learn what prevented the Horse Gulch Fire from spreading more and what is next for the land.
“Help educate folks on what is going on out there,” Rocky Infanger with TriCounty FireSafe Working Group says. “Generally, what people are seeing is the smoke in the air and fire suppression effort, but there is so much that goes on behind the scenes before it gets to that point.”
Behind the scenes, years in advance. A project completed in 2019 by the Forest Service conducted tree harvesting and prescribed burns off of Jimtown Road, something they say helped prevent the Horse Gulch Fire from spreading and ultimately saved lives and structures.
“It is very important work and gives us a lot of options that we can work off of when that wildfire does happen because they do happen every year,” said Mike Kaiser, with fire management for the Helena Ranger District.
The Horse Gulch Fire did not just impact York and Canyon Ferry, but rather the whole state, costing around 20 million dollars in suppression efforts.
The Forest Service says these pre-burns and fuel breaks reduced the risk of spread and left attendees with a lot to think about.
Witham says, “How I can possibly teach that as I am walking through everyday life and just wanting to be a better steward of the land.”
As for what’s next, the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest is working on a forest-wide prescribed fire project to help understand how fire moves across the land in the future.
