Fire restrictions now in place at local state parks

Montana State Parks announced Thursday that parks in Northwest Montana are now under Stage One fire restrictions, which allow for campfires only in designated steel fire grates.

The restrictions allow for camp stoves. Smoking is not allowed except in enclosed vehicles or developed sites clear of flammable materials.

The restrictions apply to Big Arm State Park, Finley Point State Park, Wild Horse Island State Park and Yellow Bay State Park. At Wild Horse Island and Yellow Bay, all campfires and open flames are prohibited and smoking is not allowed.

Ever since a swarm of lightning storms moved across the region early Tuesday morning, fire protection agencies have been conducting vigilant aerial reconnaissance.

Rick Connell, the fire management officer for the Flathead National Forest, said the flights have helped detect about 10 small fires, most of them single-tree lightning strikes.

Connell said there was lightning in concentrated locations, but it often came with significant rain. A weather station located northwest of the Flathead Valley, for instance, measured six-tenths of an inch of rain Tuesday morning.

“As we get hotter and drier and windy, we’ll see how these new starts go, how they evolve with the drier weather,” he said. “We’re not currently in restrictions [on the Flathead Forest], but we want the public to be diligent with fire.”

The fire danger currently is rated as high.