BOZEMAN — Five years later, new trees and greenery hide most signs of the Bridger Foothills Fire—a more than 8,000-acre blaze that left a lasting impact on the Bozeman community.
"It’s one of those things where we try to prepare and train for the worst, and it came very close to what we saw that day," says Brian Nickolay, fire chief for the Hyalite Fire District.
He responded to the Bridger foothills fire as a deputy fire warden, five years ago.
"You know, the first day it made a pretty good run. Kind of ran to the top of the ridge and got itself over the ridge and to the other side of the Bridgers," he says.
An investigation revealed the fire had been ignited days prior by a lightning strike, growing once weather conditions suddenly shifted.
"It just kind of created the perfect storm for itself," says Nickolay.
Recounting dry winds and steep slopes he says, "Along with alignment of the terrain, and the slope of the Bridgers—when the front came through and the wind picked up—it was like turning on a blow torch."
Putting ground crews at the mercy of flames and falling rocks.
"As far as close calls that day, there are several that occurred even from just trying to protect the homes in the area. That fire was moving so fast that we had to retreat crews to safety zones as far as Bridger Bowl," describes Nickolay.
WATCH: Fire Chief shares firsthand experiences from the Bridger Foothills blaze
Burning through a total of 68 structures, three firefighters found their safety zone compromised.
Nickolay says, "And they made the decision to deploy their fire shelters, which ultimately saved their lives—if they hadn’t done that, I don’t want to think about what would have happened."
He adds that many lessons were learned five years ago.
"It made us better in the way we do unified command with the Forest Service. And kind of reiterating the points to our firefighters what a good safety zone is and where we should not be," says Nickolay.
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