Stage Two fire restrictions go into effect this weekend

Fire restrictions are expected to tighten by the end of this week in Northwest

Montana, at a time when Flathead County's rural fire departments are seeing an unusual rash

of human-caused fires.

Fire restrictions are expected to tighten by the end of this week in Northwest Montana, at a time when Flathead County's rural fire departments are seeing an unusual rash of human-caused fires.

"We've had rural fire departments going to things that just shouldn't be going on," said Flathead County Commissioner Joe Brenneman.

"We end up wasting resources chasing little smokes that turn out to be someone burning a weed patch," said Brenneman, who is also a veteran volunteer with the Creston Fire Department.

"Definitely, that's the case," said Creston Fire Chief Gary Mayhew. "All of the fire departments in the valley have been called out to these kinds of fires.

In the Creston area during the past week alone, Mayhew said, the Creston Fire Department has responded to a person burning a pile of limbs, someone burning grass in a ditch, and a person who was burning garbage in a back yard. All such burning was curtailed in Flathead County as of July 1.

"People need to be cognizant that it's very dry out there, and, even though we got a lot of rain in June, that resulted in generation of a lot of light fuels and brush," Mayhew said. "They burn like gasoline, and once they get going, with the wind and heat we get in the afternoons, they just take off."

Mayhew said people simply should not be messing with fire under current conditions.

"It's the kind of thing where ignorance is no excuse," he said. "Landowners need to be aware that if a fire gets away on their property, they are liable for all suppression costs."

Mayhew said there are other considerations involved.

"We are volunteers, and every time we go out on one of these calls, that takes away time from our families and our jobs. It affects the lives of other people in the community. We're not telling them this to be mean, but we're telling them for safety reasons and potentially, saving them from some large liability."

On Tuesday afternoon, fire protection agencies across Northwest Montana announced that the region will be increasing fire restrictions from Stage One to Stage Two as of midnight Sunday.

Stage Two restrictions prohibit:

-All campfires, even in developed areas;

-smoking, except within a vehicle, a building, a developed recreation site or within an area of at least 3 feet in diameter that is cleared of flammable materials;

-Logging activities between 1 p.m. and 1 a.m. The "hoot owl" restrictions apply to operating chain saws and vehicles associated with logging, along with blasting, welding or activities that could generate a flame. Loggers are required to patrol their work sites after 1 p.m.

The Stage Two restrictions apply to all lands under the protection of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the Flathead and Kootenai national forests, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, along with Lake, Sanders, Lincoln and Flathead counties.