In the emergency declaration, Bullock said, “Montana is facing extreme fire conditions”.
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The emergency declaration allows Bullock to mobilize state resources and the Montana National Guard to fight the fires.
Stage II fire restrictions prohibit building, maintaining, attending or using a fire, campfire or wood stove; smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a designated smoking site or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable materials; and operating motorized vehicles off designated roads and trails in accordance with existing travel management plans for non-commercial purposes including ATVs, UTVs and pickups.
Two factors may help the thinly spread firefighters this week.
Another fire was located in the Muddy Creek area of Blackleaf area. Fire officials say there are too many fires and not enough crews or resources. Ninety firefighters are on the blaze, which is sitting at 75 acres in size. The largest among them is the Trail Creek fire at 2,500 acres.
A dozen trail closures are in place in the Rocky Mountain Ranger District and four on the Spotted Bear Ranger District in Flathead National Forest.
The largest is the Thompson Fire in southcentral Glacier National Park, which is 13,680 acres, but the Clearwater Complex in Idaho is 43,000 acres. Red-flag weather warnings with possible wind gusts of 50 miles per hour were keeping the fire crews braced for expansion.
Munoz said travelers should double-check whether trails are still open. The Waterton Shoreline Cruise is still running between Waterton and Goat Haunt, but backcountry access is closed. The Spotted Eagle fire in that complex went from a half-acre on Aug. 12 to 460 acres on Aug. 14 after a series of thunderstorms rolled over the area. It has a crew of 115 people assigned and is threatening structures and cattle pastures in the Upper Willow Creek and Rock Creek drainages. It has also caused the closure of Miners Gulch Road, as well as the Sandstone/Wyman Trail and Hogback Trail.
The fires are burning in steep remote terrain in heavy timber. Fire crews are working to construct a landing area on Sandstone Ridge to get personnel into the region, who will then work on the fire’s west and northwest sides.
The Reynolds Creek Fire on the east side of the park continues to burn. Cabin Creek is listed as 35 percent contained. Quick response meant the staffed fires were held to a minimal size, were contained and are in mop-up stage.
“Montana and Idaho had been having an average fire season until this recent storm activity”, said Short, “and hundreds of new fire starts and, of course, we’re left with those fires that escape initial attack and become larger incidents that need to be managed”. The series of fires in the complex exploded over the weekend, growing more than 20,000 acres to reach 52,759 acres in size. Firefighters are working to construct fire lines, with the priority being structure protection.
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The Forest Service is spending about $100 million a week fighting wild land fires, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack reported last week.
