A rash of wildfires broke out late last week and last weekend, mainly in areas that faced several days of red flag warning conditions. Several lightning and human-caused fires grew quickly in 90-degree temperatures, low humidity and strong winds.
On Wednesday, August 13th, thunderstorms moved through southwest Montana, which was also under a red flag warning. The first fire to be reported was the Horn Fire by Raynolds Pass. Lightning caused, the fire burned 2800 acres and forced highway closures and evacuation warnings. The fire is now 50% contained and is mainly under control.
Later that day, the Bivens Creek Fire was reported at the south end of the Tobacco Root Mountains. Lightning caused, this fire started slow but took off on Friday into the weekend, burning over 2000 acres with still zero containment.
The next day, the Cloudrest Fire, also in the Tobacco Roots, was started by lightning and has burned over 1100 acres with zero containment. A complex management team is now in charge of both fires in the tobacco root mountains.
The Windy Rock Fire South of Helmville started Thursday night. There was no lightning in the area. That fire grew to 850 acres and is zero percent contained. A portion of the Windy Rock Fire is burning in a wilderness study area and a backcountry conservation area, requiring fire operations to take special considerations for these landscapes.
And just this weekend the human-caused Deer Park Fire near Lake Helena was held to a minimum by firefighters. The Cascade Butte Fire started Sunday, burned over 350 acres, and is now 100% contained.
According to the Northern Rockies Coordination Center, more than 29,000 acres have burned in the state so far. The 10-year average for a season is 370,000 acres. Even though there has been wet and cool-ish weather this summer, a late fire season has really taken off recently, so please use caution.
