KALISPEL — Despite rain and cooler temperatures this week fire conditions remain dangerous across Northwest Montana with hot and dry conditions in the forecast.
Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) Fire Adavtipe Community Coordinator Kellie Kulseth said fire response units have been busy this past month with fire starts, the majority of which have been human-caused.
Kulseth says fire officials are reminding the public to be diligent with fire prevention, including making sure that campfires are dead out.
Kulseth said constant daily rain events are needed to dampen fire season, which usually runs into October in Northwest Montana.
She said Flathead County is vast, with rain hitting isolated areas while often leaving others completely dry.
“So while it might be damp in one area, it’s still continually drying and curing fuels in another, so if we are going to look at just the valley bottom, our fuels have cured out, our fuels are very receptive to fire and so we need to make sure that we stay diligent through the rest of this fire season,” said Kulseth.
Kulseth said a good resource for up-to-date fire information in the Flathead is FireSafe Flathead.
