Firefighters respond to 22 small fires over weekend
Thunderstorms and other sources of ignition over the weekend started a smattering of small fires across Northwest Montana with 22 wildfires reported, although only a few consumed more than a fraction of an acre.
Two fires started Friday in Glacier National Park.
Katie Liming, a park spokeswoman, said a fire at Doverspike Meadow up the North Fork was extinguished by four firefighters after torching about 1.25 acres.
On Monday, firefighters were still working on a 2.25-acre wildfire on Howe Ridge in an area burned by the Robert Fire in 2003.
She said crews have the fire fully contained and under control. An engine and firefighters from Yellowstone National Park were on the fire and a helicopter was used to knock down the flames Friday and Saturday.
Lightning struck a single tree near Tunnel Creek in the Flathead National Forest on Saturday afternoon, but the fire was quickly put out by Forest Service firefighters and helicopter rappellers.
In and around the Kootenai National Forest, 16 separate fires started from Friday through Sunday, but Dan Rose, a state fire management officer based in Libby, said they were all under control as of Monday afternoon.
The largest was Friday evening in Snow Gulch north of Trout Creek. Rose said it scorched about five acres, with local, state and hotshot crews working together to get the fire under control.
Northwest of Troy, a pair of two-acre fires were put out by local responders and helicopter rappellers.
Kalispell-based state fire manager Jeremy Pris said Monday that although scattered showers fell during the weekend, dry conditions are persisting.
“As welcome as it was, it was scattered in nature, so not all areas got a wetting rain,” Pris said. “We’re definitely not out of the woods.”
He added that thunderstorms forecast throughout the week don’t appear to be bringing much more precipitation with them, leaving local officials on high alert for lightning-caused fires.
Officially, Glacier Park International Airport registered .01 inches of precipitation over the weekend.
Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.