Despite a ton of precipitation pouring into western Montana during winter and spring, Missoula County Fire Protection Association spokesman Jordan Koppen says the area has finally dried up.
Fire season is well underway in the Bitterroot National Forest where crews are working to take down two fires that were detected over the past few days.
Missoula Fire crews were called out to a blaze at the Travelers Inn motel off of North Reserve Street Early Friday morning. Fire chief Jeff Brandt says the fire was called in at around 5:20 a.m.
Western Montana has been extremely wet this spring and fire season may seem like it’s a long ways off, but the Missoula Rural Fire Department Captain Michael Bowman says crews had a run in on Wednesday with an out-of-control, controlled burn.
45 homes have been evacuated near the expanding Copper King Fire by Thompson Falls, but a new weather system has made firefighting easier. Fire Information Officer Tom Rhode says that cooler temperatures have helped the new type one management team lay down a lot of new fire line.
Photo Courtesy of NBC Montana
Last Saturday, August 13, The Lolo Hotshot crew suffered the loss of one of its firefighters when 26-year-old Justin Beebe died while combating the Strawberry Fire in Nevada.
With 500 over people evacuated, one man dead and 14 homes burned, the Roaring Lion Fire shows little signs of stopping anytime soon and has expanded nearly 1,000 acres since Monday.