'Significant' rainfall dampens wildfire activity

Wetting rains Wednesday night put a damper on wildfires burning across Northwest Montana, however fire forecasters said activity could pick up this weekend as conditions dry out.

Firefighters on the Ridge Fire along the Hungry Horse Reservoir made ground Wednesday on improving control lines on the south and east flanks, while aircraft hit the blaze from above.

Some areas near the fire received "significant" rainfall of more than 0.10 inches, fire managers reported, along with cooler temperatures and 20-30% humidity.

The fire size held at 2,940 acres, but remained 0% contained.

Additional fire resources arrived Thursday, with 277 firefighters assigned to the incident now under the command of a Type 1 team from California. Motorists were advised to be cautious of fire equipment entering and exiting U.S. 2 north of Hungry Horse.

Hungry Horse Reservoir remained closed to the public, and all National Forest lands in the area and FS Roads 38 and 895 were closed to public use.

To the south, rain fell on the Niarada and Mill Pocket fires west of Elmo on Wednesday. Small and medium fuels were doused, but it wasn’t enough to penetrate heavy timber canopies, fire managers said.

The Niarada Fire was 39% contained and 20,365 acres in size.

Helicopters were hitting hot spots Thursday afternoon, while crews were mopping up and working to contain active areas within the fire’s interior.