Crews pounce on several small fires

By JIM MANN

Fire restrictions considered

The Daily Inter Lake

There have been 13 new fires across Northwest Montana over the last week, with people accounting for a good share of them.

Initial attack efforts were successful on every fire, the largest reaching about 17 acres on forest lands east of Lake Mary Ronan. That fire was started by haying operations on private land.

Responding were firefighters from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and volunteer firefighters from Polson, Chief Cliff and Rollins.

A fire near Holland Lake on the Flathead National Forest is believed to have been human-caused. It was held to a fraction of an acre. Logging operations sparked two fires, one near Marion and one southeast of Smith Lake.

Kootenai National Forest reported the discovery of several unattended campfires over the last few days.

"It is imperative that people build safe campfires," said Marcy Goheen, a fire prevention specialist on the Kootenai. "Never leave your campfire unattended, and make sure it's dead out before leaving."

This morning, fire officials in Northwest Montana will discuss the potential for fire restrictions in forested areas. They will be considering, among other things, weather and recent fire activity and behavior.

"It is anticipated that continued hot temperatures and lack of moisture will prompt fire restrictions in the near future," according to a press release Monday from the Flathead Forest.

Lightning touched off several fires over the weekend, including a three-acre fire on Crane Mountain south of Bigfork, two fires near Star Meadows on the Tally Lake Ranger District and one near Swan Lake.

Meanwhile, fires burning to the southwest and west have caused a smoky haze in the Flathead Valley.

There is a seven-fire complex that has burned more than 100 acres in the St. Regis area.

But smoke in the Flathead primarily appears to be drifting in from a series of fires in northeast Oregon and Central Idaho, according to satellite smoke-plume tracking by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com