Rain forecast brings hope
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Rain forecast for Thursday and Friday is providing firefighters hope for success on the Blue Bay and Liberty fires.
Although Sunday was a good day for firefighters, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ fire prevention specialist Devlin Lafrombois said Thursday and Friday should be better with 2-4 inches in the forecast. Polson has a forecasted high of 55 Thursday and 59 Friday, according to wunderground.com.
Sunday was the first day in a while that CSKT was able to use a helicopter to fight the Blue Bay Fire, Lafrombois said. Humidity is getting higher at night, which also helped.
The Blue Bay Fire was holding at 490 acres and had a line around it. There were some unburned fuels inside the line but 80 percent of the fire was under control, he said.
The Liberty Fire was at 26,570 acres as of Monday morning with 17 percent contained and 263 personnel on duty.
“Sunday was one of the nicer days we had all week,” said fire information officer Alan Barbian of the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team No. 3. He noted there were no big runs on Sunday in the mostly-wildland fire.
“It was a good day on the fireline,” he said. “We got a lot accomplished. The (light) winds were favorable.”
Air quality in the Arlee area on Sunday was good.
Other fires
The Rice Ridge Fire east of Seeley Lake was at 135,355 acres as of Monday morning with 8 percent containment.
The Sprague Fire in Glacier National Park was at 14,432 acres with 47 percent containment as of Monday morning. Going-to-the-Sun Road remains closed from the southern edge of Lake McDonald to Logan Pass. However, one can still access Logan Pass from the east park entrance.
The Lolo Peak Fire southwest of Lolo was at 51,001 acres as of Monday morning with 46 percent containment.
