Montana Looking Good on the Fire Front

By Alaina Abbott, 7-22-08

	Caption: The current NDFD fire danger forecast. Click the map for a larger version, from the Forest Service's Wildfire Assessment System

A year ago in Missoula, it was another 90-plus degree day during a July that saw 30 of them, and the weather turned Western Montana into a tinderbox. Today, it’s raining and a refreshing 68 degrees.

And so there’s not much fire activity around the state to report on, save a few that have popped up here and there.

The Cactus fire, nine miles west of Whitehall, is mapped at 518 acres and 65 percent contained. A Monday evening thunder cell brought strong downdraft winds on the fire and created a half-acre spot, said Terina Mullen of the Bureau of Land Management.

“Luckily we had some fire crews standing right there and they attacked it,” Mullen said. “Everything’s fine.”

Some spots are still smoldering, Mullen said, and ground crews and helicopters are continuing to work on those as well as strengthen the line. Overcast skies are helping. The cause of the fire is under investigated.

The Lindbergh Lake fire, in the Swan Valley near the Missoula Mountain Wilderness, was 60 acres. “The fire is burning from the shore up into the Lindbergh Lake area,” said Anne Dahl of the Swan Ecosystem Center.

Trails are closed to Crystal Lake. Meadow Bunyan Road, which drops into Crystal from the north, has been closed.

“It’s overcast right now,” Dahl said, and the chance for rain in the next couple days would help the firefighters.