Fire danger in Northwest at 'very high'

The Daily Inter Lake

The state has boosted the fire-danger rating for its protection areas in Northwest Montana to "very high," but no new fire activity has occurred during the last couple days.

"We had that lightning bust on Monday and we ended up picking up 10 fires total, and that's all we had from that," said Dan Cassidy, fire and forestry manager for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation land office in Kalispell.

Those 10 fires were put out early in the week. No new fire reports were received during the latter part of the week.

But the state's fire-danger rating was increased to "very high" Friday morning for state protection areas that fall mostly in drier, low-elevation areas west of Kalispell. The Flathead National Forest's

protection area, mostly higher elevation forests north and east of Kalispell, still has a "high" fire-danger rating.

Throughout Northwest Montana, Stage 1 fire restrictions remain in place, confining smoking to vehicles or buildings in a developed campsite or recreation area, or within a 3-foot-diameter area cleared of flammable materials.

Campfires are allowed only in developed campgrounds or recreation sites, within concrete or metal fire rings. Otherwise, campers must rely on camp stoves.

Stage 3 restrictions have been imposed in Southwest Montana, and restrictions could be elevated in Northwest Montana if conditions worsen, Cassidy said.

"Things are tracking upwards, but it's a big step do that because it affects the public," he said.

Stage 3 restrictions impose mandatory "hoot owl" hours on logging contractors, requiring them to work between 1 a.m. and 1 p.m., and to patrol their logging sites during the afternoons.

Many loggers are voluntarily curtailing their operations and patrolling their work sites, Cassidy noted.

Thursday's eruption of fires along Interstate 90 west of Missoula temporarily diverted some firefighting resources from the Flathead.

"We sent our helicopter down yesterday to help out, but it's back now. Most of our resources are here," he said.

Bob Sandman, a Flathead resident who leads a national Type I incident command team, was dispatched to assume management of the "I-90 Complex" on Thursday night.