MISSOULA- Twenty firefighters from the Stevensville and Darby/Sula Ranger Districts, Bitterroot Helitack, and Trapper Creek Job Corps were sent to Colorado over the weekend to help with new fires there. They are expected to be gone for 14 days.
The Bitterroot National Forest reports they have engines in the Southwest assisting other Forests with initial attack operations.
An engine from the West Fork is currently on the Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico and an engine from Darby is on the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona.
Engines from Sula and Stevensville are helping out with the Soldier Canyon fire in New Mexico which is currently 1,300 acres and is 28% contained. The Bitterroot Hotshot Crew, based out of Darby is on the 416 Fire near Durango, Colorado which is currently over 22,000 acres in size and is 10%.
All these resources will return home in time for when things start to dry out here.
Bitterroot fire crews have responded to two small lightning fires on the Bitterroot National Forest. Both were from storms last week and both were suppressed at less than a 1/10th of an acre in size.
-Melissa Rafferty reporting for MTN
