Montana Wildfire News

The Kootenai National Forest is slated to start five salvage timber sales in areas that burned last year, and one more is pending.

The Zulu fire that it is believed lightning started Sunday in the Kootenai National Forest north of Libby expanded to 20 acres today. Forest spokesman Willie Sykes tells the Flathead Beacon about 80 firefighters and several aircraft are fighting the fire. No structures are threatened.

Wildfire season has arrived as fire danger ratings are increasing in national forests and wildlands throughout Montana. The Kootenai National Forest moved to "very high" Wednesday, and the Bitterroot National Forest switched to "high" fire danger this morning following the discovery of two lightning-caused fires Tuesday. The Flathead National Forest and surrounding area has also moved their fire danger to “high” this week.

The Flathead Beacon is reporting that a 10 acre wildfire started on the Kootenai National Forest Sunday, 23 miles north of Libby, and is still burning Monday. Reportedly caused by lightning, the Zulu fire doesn’t threaten any structures. At least one helicopter has been dispatched to suppress the flames.

The State’s fire fighting savings account started this month with the second lowest balance since it was created a decade ago. There’s only about $4 million in the fund’s reserves for this fire season. That’s about a fifth of what the state needs to cover an average fire season bill.

Fire potential is expected to increase Friday in parts of north-central and southwest Montana, with temperatures reaching into the upper 90s. According to the National Weather Service hot temperatures, low humidity, and winds will create critical wildfire conditions, especially along the Highway 2 corridor from Browning to Harlem.

Summer’s barely a month old, but a Missoula aviation and air tanker company is already running at full tilt. “Neptune Aviation is incredibly busy right now,” says Neptune Aviation spokesman Kevin Condit. “We’re really flying a lot of fires in a lot of different states. We’re everywhere from Colorado to California and in between. It’s been a busy fire season so far.”

Smoke visible in the Missoula area Monday dropped the air quality to "moderate." The smoke is likely coming from the Klamathon Fire in California. Sarah Coefield of Missoula City-County Health Department said the fire is burning about 35,000 acres near the California/Oregon border.

For most Montanans, wildfire smoke is ‘out of sight, out of mind’. It’s been almost a year since smoke pollution filled Missoula County, turning the air yellow and creating a public health crisis for residents. But one air quality expert is urging people to start preparing for the smoke before wildfire season arrives.

Wildland fire officials with the Missoula County Fire Protection Association are elevating fire danger in Missoula County to 'moderate'. The change is effective midnight July 4. Weather forecasters predict hot and dry conditions by the end of the week, with temperatures ranging into the 90s throughout the region.