The Rice Ridge Fire (2017)

The Rice Ridge Fire is the defining wildfire in Seeley Lake’s recent memory. Lightning started it on July 24, 2017. Over the following weeks it grew to about 155,900 acres, became a megafire, merged with a neighboring fire and forced a mandatory evacuation of the Seeley Lake area from August 28 to September 5, 2017. Fighting it cost an estimated $33.8 million.¹

This page sets out what is documented, in order, and is clear about what is not.

A note on the numbers

The figures here come mainly from a secondary summary.¹ The primary federal record for large fires is InciWeb, where Rice Ridge was incident #5414.² InciWeb’s pages were unreachable when this guide was compiled, so the official final acreage, structure losses and smoke totals are not verified here. Treat “about 155,900 acres” as the best available figure, not a final official number. If you need authoritative figures, check InciWeb or contact the Lolo National Forest.⁷

Timeline

Why was the lake closed?

Seeley Lake became a water source for firefighting aircraft. Scooper planes skimmed the lake to fill their tanks and dropped the water on the fire, so the lake was closed to boats twice: August 7 to 18 and August 28 to September 7.¹ Photographs of scoopers at work from that September are among the public-domain images InciWeb released.

What was the evacuation like?

The mandatory evacuation covered the Seeley Lake area and ran from August 28 until it was lifted on September 5, 2017.¹ This guide has not verified evacuation boundaries, how many people left, or how many structures were lost, because those figures would normally come from the incident record on InciWeb.

The photograph at the top of this page, released by InciWeb, shows the fire from Seeley Lake at night. Its description dates it to August 10, 2017, but its file metadata says September 13, 2017, so the exact date is uncertain.⁹

What did the fire burn?

Among the places it burned was the entire Morrell Falls National Recreation Trail. A Pathfinder writer who walked the trail in October 2017 described the changed landscape and warned that hikers should expect deadfall.³ Morrell Falls, a 90-foot double falls at the northeast corner of 23-acre Morrell Lake, sits at the end of that 2.7-mile trail.⁴

Is fire normal in this forest?

Fire has long been part of these forests. Western larch, whose needles turn gold in autumn, has bark 3 to 6 inches thick that helps it survive fire, and Gus, the champion larch west of town, has survived about 40 fires in roughly 1,000 years.⁵ What made 2017 stand out locally was the fire’s size and the evacuation of the town.

What does it mean for visitors today?

The Rice Ridge burn is part of the landscape now. If you hike in the area, especially to Morrell Falls, expect standing dead trees and downed logs, and be cautious in wind. Trail conditions change from year to year, so check with the Seeley Lake Ranger District before you go: 3583 Highway 83 North, 406-677-2233, Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.⁶ See the Morrell Falls trail guide for directions.

What is verified, and what is not?

If you have a primary source for any of the unverified rows, such as an InciWeb record, a Forest Service report or a Pathfinder article from the time, the corrections link on this page is the place to send it.

Where can I read more?

• InciWeb, the federal incident site, holds the official record for incident #5414.²
• The Lolo National Forest fire information page covers current fire conditions on the forest around Seeley Lake.⁷
• The Seeley Swan Pathfinder covered the fire and its aftermath, including the October 2017 walk through the burned Morrell Falls trail.³

What does it mean for people who live here?

The fire made wildfire preparation a practical part of owning property in the valley. Missoula County’s Seeley Lake profile references a Community Wildfire Protection Plan and points residents to Smart911 for emergency information.⁸ The wildfire and Firewise page covers alert sign-ups, defensible-space resources and insurance questions.