Over the last week, firefighters centered their efforts on a number of large timber fires speckling western Montana’s backcountry. Firefighting personnel continue moving away from the Remington Fire, Montana’s largest wildfire of the season so far, as it approaches total containment across Big Horn, Rosebud and Powder River counties.
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Ravalli County hosts several large blazes. The Sharrott Creek Fire covers almost 3,000 acres three miles west of Stevensville. The blaze, considered 23% contained as of Thursday, more than doubled in size over the last week and remains the most-staffed fire in the state. On the other side of the Bitterroot Valley, the Railroad and Daly fires are burning near each other along the border between Ravalli County and Granite County, covering a combined 2,500 acres. The Johnson Fire also continues to burn more than 4,000 acres in southern Ravalli County near the Beaverhead County border.
Additionally, the Grouse Fire now covers 5,000 acres in Beaverhead County, roughly 10 miles south of Wise River. The fire was first reported on July 25 and grew rapidly over the course of the following week. By mid-August, statewide agencies had demobilized the fire camp and returned command of firefighting operations to the locality. But since the fire’s spontaneous 600-acre growth on Wednesday, Sept. 4, the blaze has continued to spread.
According to the National Weather Service offices in Missoula and Billings, the weekend forecast does not include fast winds or fire-prone levels of humidity. Even with high temperatures, fire risk remains mild. Montanans can expect hazy skies over the next few days, though, as smoke continues to enter Montana from Idaho and Canada.
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