Fire restrictions will ease next week

Northwest Montana fire bosses have decided to lower fire restrictions across the region early next week, largely because of a significant change in weather and fire behavior.

Smoky conditions in the Flathead Valley on Thursday are evidence that the 2007 fire season isn't finished. There are live, large fires in the region, nearly all of them in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

But fire behavior has dropped off substantially, said Allen Chrisman, fire management officer on the Flathead National Forest.

"The change in fire behavior is one of the things that gave us confidence in going back to Stage One" fire restrictions, Chrisman said, referring to Thursday's joint decision.

For weeks, Stage Two fire restrictions had been in effect across Northwest, prohibiting all open fires, limiting daytime logging operations, and requiring motorized vehicles to stay on open trails and roads.

Starting on Monday, Stage One restrictions will take effect, allowing the public to have campfires in developed campsites and other designated areas, and allowing daytime logging activity to resume.

Today, district rangers who manage portions of the wilderness complex, where Stage One restrictions are now in effect, will consider doing away with restrictions altogether.

Chrisman said recent burning activity has diminished on most fires in the wilderness.

"We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of activity we saw (Wednesday) even with strong winds," Chrisman said.

The Felix Fire, burning east of Hungry Horse Reservoir in the Great Bear Wilderness, showed the most activity. The fire was last sized at 330 acres, but it's estimated that it grew by as much as 200 acres on Wednesday.

Chrisman said fire activity has diminished because of several factors: shorter days, cooler daytime temperatures and much cooler nighttime temperatures and higher humidities.

Currently active wilderness fires include the 13,258-acre Corporal Fire five miles south of Spotted Bear; the 1,011-acre Calbick Fire 20 miles northeast of Spotted Bear; the 1,310-acre Turtlehead Fire 22 miles southeast of Spotted Bear; the 22,950-acre Conger Fire 20 miles north of Ovando; the 20,669-acre Railley Mountain Fire 13 miles northeast of Seeley Lake; and the 20-acre Table Mountain Fire, which was just detected Tuesday in the Spotted Bear River drainage.

Chrisman said another justification for lowering fire restrictions is a weather forecast anticipating increased humidities and potentially scattered rain across the Northern Rockies by Sunday.

Until the region gets significant rain or snow, he said, there will be regular patrols and firefighting activity on the Brush Creek Fire, which is 100 percent contained after burning nearly 30,000 acres southwest of Whitefish.

Stage One fire restrictions apply to all lands in Northwest Montana within Flathead and Lincoln Counties, plus that portion of Lake County outside of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Lands, plus all lands administered by the Kootenai National Forest, Flathead National Forest, and Glacier National Park. These restrictions apply to portions of Sanders County west of Whitepine, Glacier County within Glacier National Park, Missoula County north of Summit Lake, and Powell County within the Flathead National Forest.

A list of designated sites where campfires are allowed is available on the Internet at: http://www.mt.blm.gov/fire/restrictions/index.html.

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