Wildfire season begins in western Montana

Near-average precipitation so far this year suggests wildfire season will be more subdued than last summer. At one point last August, more than 100 wildfires were burning across Northwest Montana.

“We’re better than last year,” Lincoln Chute, Fire Service Area Manager for the Office of Emergency Services in Kalispell, said Thursday. “And boy, I’m glad. I didn’t want to do restrictions and fireworks bans again.”

Still, fire danger levels in the Flathead Valley have been elevated to moderate as hotter and drier conditions are making wildfires more likely.

Several fires have already sparked across western Montana. A 527-acre fire near St. Ignatius forced temporary evacuations Thursday. The fire is thought to be human caused. Another fire, 15 miles south of Ennis, also broke out Thursday. The 37-acre fire was caused by lightning. Near Lincoln, the Elk Trail Loop fire is burning 10 acres north of Highway 200. An evacuation was ordered for the area but has since been lifted. The cause is under investigation.

The biggest fire so far this summer is in the Bitterroot National Forest, 10 miles southwest of Hamilton, where lightning sparked a 1,385 acre wildfire and forced an evacuation of 203 residences.

Chute stressed that while forecasts for this year’s fire season might be normal to average, average still means about 300 fires per season. In addition, he said the immense size of the Northern Rockies region doesn’t always help put the size of fires in perspective.

“You could have a 10,000-acre fire in your backyard and it would still be average, but if you asked those people that had that fire in their neighborhood, they might not think it’s so average,” Chute said.

Ali Ulwelling, Fire Prevention Specialist for DNRC, said it’s important not to forget about fire dangers once summer is over. Instead, people and communities need to be taking proper precautions throughout the year to be better prepared when the dry, hot summer comes.

“Fire season is longer than just summertime, longer than just when there’s smoke in the air,” she said.

The Montana State Fire Chiefs’ Association recommends their “Ready, Set, Go!” preparation guide for residents. More information is available at www.wildlandfirersg.org.