Lightning starts fires around the Reservation
Megan Strickland
The Ferry Basin fire, six miles west of the National Bison Range, burned in timber and brush on Sunday, Aug. 11.
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News from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Division of Fire
According to Vic Stevens, Ronan Dispatch, two lightning-caused fires started when a weather front occurred Saturday night and Sunday morning.
One was the Dancing Boy fire located four miles east of Arlee. It burned in timber and down slash. The fire was contained and controlled at a quarter acre by fire crews from the Division of Fire and is now in patrol status.
The Ferry Basin fire, six miles west of the National Bison Range, is currently burning in timber and grass. It started early Sunday morning, and currently the fire size is 110 acres, spreading into nearby timber stands. Fire resources on the fire are tribal cats/skidgines, three water tenders, four type six contract engines, three hand crews and two helicopters. Additional crews and machinery are being ordered to help suppress this fire.
No structures were threatened on either of these fires. The Firestone Flats fire near Arlee, burned 1,570 acres and is controlled and on patrol status. An infrared flight early Sunday morning showed four hotspots within the fire perimeter. The cause of the Firestone Flats fire is still under investigation.
The public is reminded that the Flathead Indian Reservation is still under a Stage I restriction, which prohibits building, maintaining, attending or using a fire or campfire except within a developed recreation site or improved site. Stage I also prohibits smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable material.
The fire indices on the Flathead Indian Reservation has been downgraded from extreme to very high but hotter temperatures have elevated the fire danger.
