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lots of action in the lolo

An extended fire season exacerbated by severe drought made for higher burn totals than normal this summer, according to National Forest officials who are in the midst of tallying up figures for the 2007 season.

For the Lolo and Bitterroot National Forests, while the number of fires caused by humans and lightning did not increase dramatically, the number of acres that burned did. In some cases, though, officials let the fires burn as part of fuel reduction programs. [more]

Fire Prevention

It's the season for controlled burns, and this week's warm dry weather has seen parks and wildlands officials conducting two along the Front Range.

All week a burn has been going on at the new Staunton Park, southwest of Denver along Highway 285, sending billowing clouds of white smoke billowing over the area. About 75 acres of underbrush and leaf litter will burned to thin out the dense ponderosa pine forest in preparation for the opening of the park, which will become the state's 43rd state park.

On Friday the county Parks and Open Space Department will set about 44 acres alight in Betasso Preserve, west of Boulder (and bordering our property in Four Mile Canyon). The preserve will be closed to visitors.

waiting for the "season-ending event"

Rainfall and cooler temperatures across Montana have slowed fire activity over the past few days, but fire officials are stopping short of calling the weather a season-ending event.

“That’s a tough one,” Incident Commander Glen McNitt of the Jocko Lakes fire said. “Certainly it’s a good sign, but in all likelihood, there’re still going to be some smokes out there.”

Fire officials working the Ahorn and Fool Creek fires similarly avoided the phrase “season-ending” in their discussions of recent weather.

“The fire activity is way down at this point,” Public Information Officer Ted Pettis said. However, precipitation in the region has been scattered, ranging from reports of 5-8 inches of snow from fire lookouts stationed above 6,000 feet to a tenth of an inch of rain recorded in lower elevations. [more]

multimedia slideshow

This summer in Montana, dozens of wildfires consumed hundreds of thousands of acres of parched land. Yet thousands more were left unaffected by fire, partially due to the initial and rapid response of the people who make up one of the West's most romanticized and revered professions: Smokejumpers.

It's easy enough to see where the fascination with smokejumping stems: Tough, dirty firefighters, padded up for flight, readying themselves to jump into a forest afire. But, when you get personal, you see there is so much more to smokejumping than just the adrenaline, the sweat and the bravery. It's what happens before the jumps, after the jumps and between the jumps that captured NewWest.Net photographer Anne Medley's attention.

During the height of fire season in August, Anne hung out with Missoula-based rookie smokejumper Carrie Johnson as she prepared to jump. Click the image for a multimedia glance into Carrie's life as a smokejumper. [more]

growth and the wildland urban interface

This might be one for the is-anybody-surprised department, but a new study concludes that continued rapid development of the wildfire-prone private land in western states will not only put more homes and firefighters at risk, but firefighting costs will soar, likely into climb into the billions of tax dollars spent annually in the coming years.

That cheery news comes courtesy of a press release today from Headwaters Economics in Bozeman, Montana.

In a county-by-county study of 11 western states, Headwaters found that only 14 percent of the so-called "wildland urban interface" has been developed, which means what we've seen in recent years is sure to get much worse. [more]

smoky skies -- still

A Stage 1 Air Alert is in effect for the Missoula Valley today, according to a press release issued this morning by the Missoula City-County Health Department. Areas of dense smoke are expected until later this afternoon based on current weather forecasts.

A meteorologist at the National Weather Service said that current wind conditions are bringing in smoke from the Jocko Lakes and Sawmill Complex Fires to the east. The 36,000 acre Jocko Lakes fire is 95 percent contained and the 63,000 Sawmill Complex fire is 35 percent contained.

Missoula-City County Health Department officials recommend that people with heart or lung disease, smokers, children and the elderly limit their time outdoors today and avoid heavy or prolonged exertion.

For more smoke information or air quality updates visit www.co.missoula.mt.us/EnvHealth or call the Missoula Air Quality Hotline at 258-3600. [more]

Idaho Fire Update

Without making any firm decisions, the Ketchum City Council Tuesday evening began searching for $200,000 in savings to accommodate that size of a drop in anticipated Local Option Tax revenues resulting from the Castle Rock Fire, including the difficult cancellation of Wagon Days, Ketchum's single biggest holiday of summer.

While the sum is large, city leaders hadn't yet adopted the budget the shortfall will affect and have time to make changes to balance the budget. But what projects and departments will be short-funded has yet to be identified, though a small extension of the 4th Street upgrade will move forward because much of the materials for it –paver blocks and street lights- are already here.
[more]

montana's special legislative session

With the 2007 fire season already costing Montana more than was appropriated for the entire biennium, lawmakers convened in Helena Wednesday for a special legislative session to refill the state's firefighting fund.

At the end of the day lawmakers had appropriated $82 million -- $39 million for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to cover this year’s firefighting bill, $3 million for the Department of Military Affairs, and $40 million for a new account to pay future firefighting costs (it can't be touched until next July), according to the Helena IR State Bureau. [more]

Flathead Tribes Deny ‘Letting it Burn’

As the danger from another wildfire season tentatively begins to draw down, the finger-pointing over fire policy and management has already ramped up. The rumor mill that inevitably takes shape amid natural disasters has given rise to a controversial story regarding mismanagement of the Jocko Lakes fire by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation. It’s a rumor a tribal spokesman is taking great pains to dispel, and one he said reveals an alarming disconnect between the CSKT and surrounding communities.

According to Rob McDonald, communications director for the tribes, the rumor began circulating around Aug. 6 – a few days after the Jocko Lakes fire started expanding rapidly – that CSKT officials obstructed a DNRC crew from an initial attack of the beginnings of the fire July 18 because it was burning in a tribal primitive area. The fire, which as of this writing has burned more 35,000 acres, came close to destroying the town of Seeley Lake. [more]

montana fire roundup

Montana's largest fire of the season, the Chippy Creek Fire 42 mile southwest of Kalispell, is now fully contained at 99,090 acres -- or about 155 square miles. Evacuation orders have been lifted and rehabilitation operations are underway.

And a couple of other summer headliners are out or mostly out. The Black Cat Fire northwest of Missoula has been contained at less than 12,000 acres, and the 36,000-acre Jocko Lakes Fire west of Seeley Lake is 93 percent contained.

Red-flag conditions in Central Montana are expected to precede a cold front sweeping into Montana today, according to the National Weather Service, and after the winds subside the region will be left with significantly cooler air -- highs in the 70s for the rest of the week -- with rain here and there. [more]

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