A wildland fire burning between Reed Point and Greycliff in south-central Montana has grown to 650 acres since it ignited on Saturday, July 27.
The Diamond fire was listed as only 10% contained. It’s burning north of the Yellowstone River and is visible from Interstate 90.
The blaze was one of 11 ignited across the state in the last 24 hours as dry lightning rolled through the region. As of Monday, there were 55 fires actively burning across the state.
The largest fires are still the Deadman and Mcghee, both more than 19,000 acres, burning in Big Horn and Rosebud counties south of the community of Birney. Both have been 100% contained, as has the 15,167-acre Horse Gulch fire burning northeast of Helena.
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The containment of the fires prompted Big Horn County to lift on Friday a mandatory evacuation order that had been in place at Tongue River Reservoir State Park since the Deadman and Mcghee fires took off. The marina is open.
In Wyoming, the Clearwater fire burning west of Cody has grown to 99 acres and prompted a closure on the Elk Fork Road and trail. Seventy personnel have been assigned to the blaze.
A smoky haze continues to envelope much of the state, although air quality is generally considered only moderately poor, meaning those who are unusually sensitive should reduce outdoor activity. Select locations across the state are seeing worse air quality, such as the small town of Pryor, where the rating is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Much of the smoke is coming from the west where fires continue to burn across northern Idaho, northwestern Oregon and parts of Washington. As of Monday morning, 102 large wildland fires were burning across the nation, consuming more than 2 million acres.
Another cold front was expected to move through the Pacific Northwest on Monday, bringing more winds to fan fires.
As dry warm weather continues into August, stage 1 fire restrictions have been enacted at Fish, Wildlife & Parks recreation sites in Madison, Silver Bow, Dawson, Powell, Powder River, Deer Lodge, Sweet Grass, Treasure and Stillwater counties.
For statewide updates, visit FWP’s restrictions and closures page at https://fwp.mt.gov/news/current-closures-restrictions.
Yellowstone National Park’s fire danger climbed to “very high” over the weekend, where stage 1 fire restrictions were also enacted.
Stage 1 fire restrictions prohibit building, maintaining, attending, or using a fire or campfire as well as smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site or while stopped in an area at least 3 feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable materials.
The continuing heat also prompted the enacting of hoot-owl fishing restrictions on the Yellowstone River from the Highway 89 bridge fishing access site east of Livingston to the Highway 212 bridge in Laurel. These restrictions are enacted when water temperatures climb to at least 73 degrees for three consecutive days and prohibit all fishing between 2 p.m. to midnight.
On the Sioux Ranger District of the Custer Gallatin National Forest in southeastern Montana’s Carter County and Harding County, South Dakota, the Forest Service has implemented stage 2 fire restrictions.
“Elevated fire danger conditions are present across much of Eastern Montana and Western South Dakota,” said District Ranger, Kurt Hansen, in a news release. “Hot and dry weather conditions are expected to continue into August. Wildfires have the potential to become larger because there’s more available fuel and spread faster through dry grasses.”
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated Granite and Powell counties as primary natural disaster areas for drought. The contiguous counties of Deer Lodge, Flathead, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Missoula and Ravalli also qualify for emergency loans to producers.
