Curiosity inspires desire for news

Letter from the editor

I'm always surprised by human kind's innate curiosity. This weekend was no exception.

It was happenstance that I was driving with a Daily Inter Lake photographer on the way from Bigfork to Kalispell on Saturday evening around 7 p.m.

As we drove on Montana Highway 82, I noticed a large, dark funnel of smoke, which appeared to be over Lakeside.

We decided to check it out and we weren't the only ones. Many vehicles tried to follow the smoke or were pulled over along the side of U.S. Highway 93, trying to get a better view.

That same desire to know what's happening appeared to double or even triple Sunday, as the Baldy Fire, three miles west of Lakeside, grew from 40 acres to 200 acres overnight.

Even more cars were pulled over on the side of the road and more than one person tried to find a way to sneak past the members of the Flathead County Sheriff's posse to get a better look.

When I was up Blacktail Road with a Flathead National Forest representative, I saw residents of nearby homes who had not yet evacuated trying to creep up the road as far as they could without being ordered to turn back or caught just to get a glimpse of what was happening.

The more than 130 people who attended the public meeting Sunday night demonstrated that people wanted to know what was going on and not just because their homes were threatened – because they were curious.

People also had a desire to document and preserve memories of the incident. Highway 93 was lined with amateur photographers of all ages trying to capture the smoke billowing up from Baldy Mountain and the air drops of water and retardant.

All of this impressed upon me the desire we all have for news and for answers.

I hope we were able to provide you with some of those answers in this week's edition.

As events progress, we will continue to keep you updated on the incident and other similar situations online and in the printed newspaper.

With new platforms for delivering the news, I hope we can continue to pursue ways to keep you up-to-date on what's happening in your community.

As always, I'm open to your suggestions.

-Jasmine Linabary