Healthy rainfall eases fire restrictions in Glacier Park
Two hikers head back to the trailhead on the Ptarmigan-Iceberg Trail in Many Glacier in Glacier National Park on Sunday, July 7. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Campfires will once again be allowed in Glacier National Park, on the Flathead Forest and in Flathead County beginning Friday.
Fire managers on Wednesday decided to rescind the stage 1 fire rules for the two federal jurisdictions based on recent rainfall across the area.
West Glacier has picked up 1.25 inches of rainfall so far in August, well ahead of the normal precipitation of 0.25 for the first week of the month. Kalispell has recorded 0.59 inches of rain for the month.
Despite the rain and cooler temperatures, stage 1 restrictions remain in place for all other jurisdictions in Northwest Montana, including Lincoln and Lake counties, the Kootenai Forest, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Montana DNRC and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
The restrictions prohibit fires, including charcoal grills, as well as restrictions on smoking outdoors and the use of chainsaws and welding equipment.
Fire managers will reassess conditions next week to determine if more jurisdictions can roll back restrictions.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible across western Montana on Friday and Saturday.
Smoke from large wildfires in Oregon was expected to stay south of Montana on Friday, however some light haze from fires in Canada could drift south. Southwest Montana could see smoke impacts over the weekend.
A FEW large wildfires remain active across the Northern Rockies.
The Grouse Fire off the Pioneer Scenic Byway near Wise River was sized at 3,700 acres on Wednesday. It was 5% contained with 290 firefighters on the scene. The scenic bypass remained open, but travelers were urged to be aware of fire traffic.
The lightning-caused Johnson Fire had burned 270 acres on the Bitterroot Forest southeast of Hamilton. Crews wrapped the nearby McCart Lookout with protective material on Tuesday.
In Idaho, the Wye Fire was unstaffed due to higher priority fires in the region. It was sized at 3,760 acres.
Over half an inch of rain doused the Bluff Creek Complex of fires near Coeur d'Alene on Aug. 4, helping crews gain control of the fires that had burned 432 acres.