Fire danger rated 'high' as blazes brew west of here

The fire danger in Northwest Montana has been moved to high after several weeks of hot, dry weather.

“Area wildland firefighters have responded to 15 fire starts since June 28th in the Flathead area,” said Flathead National Forest spokeswoman Janette Turk. “Of these starts, 11 were human-caused and four were holdover fires from lightning. Timely initial attack by firefighters kept these starts at less than an acre in size.”

Firefighters were working to suppress an 8-acre fire near Moose Peak up the North Fork, Turk said Monday. Glacier National Park had no fires as of Monday, spokeswoman Lauren Alley said.

Larger fires are brewing west of Columbia Falls.

The Rogers Mountain Fire near Happy’s Inn was about 68 acres; the Lazier Creek Three Fire near Plains was about 1,000 acres and evacuations were ordered at the Bend Ranger Station.

While the fire danger is high, there are currently no fire restrictions in place.

Spring started out wetter than normal in Flathead Valley. By early May the Glacier Park International Airport had seen 16.15 inches of precipitation since Oct. 1, which is 7.47 inches above normal — nearly double a normal year.

But since then it’s been fairly dry. June, which is usually the wettest month of the year, was a little more than an inch below normal and May was an inch below normal as well.

July has started out hot and dry, with high temperatures in the high 80s and 90s and no rain.

People are urged to make sure campfires are dead out, which means cold to the touch and to be careful with other potential fire starters, such as smoking and safety chains from towed units dragging on roadways.

Last year there were no major fires in the Flathead Valley. Further south, near Plains and Thompson Falls, the Copper King Fire burned more than 28,000 acres.

Locally, 2015 was a very active fire year, with the Reynolds Creek Fire burning about 4,850 acres in an eight-mile swath along the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, just east of the divide.

More heat is expected this week, with temperatures in the 90s and some locations reaching 100 by week’s end, with no rain in sight.