7 new fires crop up after lightning storm

Seven new wildfires cropped up Wednesday night across Northwest Montana as thunder and lightning storms moved over the region.

The largest, the Star Fire, was estimated at 77 acres Thursday morning. It is just north of Heron in Sanders County. Not far away, the Government Fire north of Noxon was estimated at 30 acres.

In Lincoln County, four fires less than an acre in size sparked up. The Williams Creek Fire is west of Libby just south of U.S. 2. The Dunn Fire is southeast of the Libby Dam. The Schrieber Lake and Upper Schreiber fires are on the west side of U.S. 2 west of Happy’s Inn.

In Flathead County, the Pleasant Ridge Fire was burning between Lynch and Dahl lakes. It was 1 acre in size.

Meanwhile, the Quartz Fire in Glacier National Park showed little activity on Wednesday, however hot weather expected through the weekend could ramp up activity and smoke. As of Thursday morning, the fire was estimated at 1,698 acres.

The Flat Mineral Fire, located in the Flattop Mountain area above Mineral Creek in Glacier National Park, produced wisps of smoke throughout the day on Wednesday, but had no observable spread. The fire is in a remote area and is surrounded by brush and fuels last burned during the Trapper Fire in 2003. The fire is being observed by the Swiftcurrent Lookout.

Air quality in the Flathead Valley was rated as moderate Thursday morning.

AUTHORITIES WARNED of high wildfire danger across much of Montana on Thursday as temperatures were forecast to approach the triple digits with heavy winds in some areas.

The start of September will bring heat at near record levels and it will linger through Labor Day weekend, the National Weather Service said.

Central and northeastern Montana from Great Falls to the North Dakota border was under a red flag warning through midnight.

Winds gusts up to 30 miles per hour and highs near 100 degrees Fahrenheit were forecast. That means any spark could cause a new wildfire, forecasters in Great Falls said.

August had the highest monthly average temperatures ever recorded in Helena and Belgrade, the weather service said.