The three-year project is expected to treat over 10,000 acres of National Forest lands. Much of the work will take place where homes adjoin or intersect with forest land. Treatments will include prescribed fire, commercial timber harvests and non-commercial thinning.

The West Wind Fire in Fergus County is still zero percent contained but was showing minimal fire activity today. Enhanced mapping shows the size of the fire as 10,644 acres, down from an earlier estimate.

High winds, months of drought and record temperatures fueled wildfires in central Montana this week that burned thousands of acres. Dozens of homes, grain elevators and bridges have been lost. MTPR’s Shaylee Ragar talked to some of those impacted by the fires.

Suppression efforts continue on a 30 acre wildfire burning outside Missoula. The investigation into its cause is underway and law enforcement is now asking for the public’s help.

Pre-evacuation warnings are in effect due to a fire near the Blacktail Ski Area, and Stage 1 fire restrictions are now in effect on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest.

Cooler temperatures in the 50s to low 60s and higher humidity are helping firefighters contain the South Moccasin Fire burning northwest of Lewistown in Fergus County.

The South Moccasin Fire burning northwest of Lewistown in Fergus County grew by more than 1,000 acres overnight, pushed by wind shifts. Five structures have been destroyed, including Yellowstone Public Radio’s transmitter that services the Stanford-Lewistown area.

Extreme fire behavior with wind-driven runs and ember spotting has pushed the South Moccasin Fire to some 7,000 acres as of noon Tuesday. The fire is burning in timber and short grass 7 miles northwest of Lewistown in Fergus County and is zero percent contained.

Just because it’s October doesn’t mean fire season is over. Elevated fire danger either is, or will soon be, in effect for a wide swath of Montana.

A Forest Service spokesperson describes the Haystack Fire as a late fourth-quarter push at a time when fire season is usually winding down. She says exhausted firefighters are now frequently responding to reports of abandoned campfires.