A five-acre fire started around 4 p.m. Wednesday near Alberton. Lolo National Forest spokesperson Boyd Hartwig says the fire is burning mostly grass, and that it’s not yet known if the fire is human-caused.

Since Monday, one new fire has been discovered in the Kootenai National Forest. The Ten Mile Fire is burning 15 to 20 acres in the Rexford and Fortine Ranger Districts. That brings to 21 the number of lightning-caused fires discovered on the Kootenai since this weekend.

Updated and corrected: 5:35 p.m., 07/30/18 Twenty fires have flared up in the Kootenai National Forest, all caused by lightning from weekend storms. Most of the fires are only burning a few acres, but the Davis Fire is now reported at 1,000 acres in size, according to a post on the Kootenai National Forest Facebook page . A fire spokesperson told MTPR Monday afternoon that the Davis fire was only 50 acres.

How devastating are wildfires to deer and elk? Can most of them outrun or outflank a rapidly spreading fire? And what about the survivors when they return to a burned forest? Isn’t their habitat destroyed?

This year is the 30th anniversary of the fires that burned nearly half of Yellowstone National Park in 1988. They freaked a lot of people out. Media coverage at the time characterized the fires as causing unprecedented devastation and the destruction of park forests and wildlife habitat.

Wildfire activity was minimal in Montana today, but a fire weather warning is in effect until 9 p.m for the Lolo National Forest area from Drummond through Missoula and to Thompson Falls, including Seeley Lake. Corby Dickerson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service says issuing the warning gives a heads-up for those doing initial attack on wildfires.

Update 5:45 p.m. Fire mangers report little activity on the Bacon Rind Fire burning near Big Sky on the Gallatin National Forest. New flights show the fire at 393 acres, up from around 340 acres yesterday, according to the fire's public information officer. Crews are monitoring the fire with an eye on forecasts calling for continued hot, dry weather. Mangers are working on plans for fighting the fire if it moves closer to Highway 191.

Before firefighters entered the Modified Fire Response Zone of the asbestos-contaminated forest near Libby to suppress the Highway 37 Fire, they donned full-face respirators, and recited a poem. "You ready? When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act like a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors …"

UPDATE 6:00 p.m.: The Wawa wildfire is no longer considered a threat to critical sage grouse habitat on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. Winds have pushed the fire away from grouse habitat and firefighters have taken a more managerial position, allowing it to burn within the control lines the crews put up.

The Bacon Rind Fire , detected Friday evening above the Gallatin Canyon about 20 miles south of Big Sky is now being estimated at 202 acres. It was started by a thunderstorm that moved through the area on July 16. It is burning in the Lee Metcalf Wilderness area about two miles west Highway 191, between Bacon Rind and Snowslide Creeks.