At 4:00pm on July 29, the Lowman Fire exploded and consumed five square miles of forest. Within two hours it grew into a fire storm that destroyed parts of the dispersed Lowman community. Fire fighters first focused on saving lives by quickly evacuating the town, then turned to protecting homes and businesses after Lowman’s population was safe. Fire-retardant foam and sprinklers were used to defend buildings, and although twenty-six homes and other structures burned, four times that many were saved. Additional help soon arrived as airplanes dropped fire-retardant along the town’s boundaries to restrict the fire, lines were dug to interrupt fuel, back-fires were started to reduce fuel, and wood piles, brush, fallen branches, and propane tanks were removed to lessen flammable hazards near homes. Most structures were saved, but the Lowman area suffered $10.3 million in natural resource and property damages.