The Lincoln County Sheriff’s office has issued a pre-evacuation warning for additional areas near the South Yaak Fire burning 4 miles northwest of Troy.
The following areas are now under pre-evacuation warning:
- Yaak River Road Hwy 508, from the Highway 2 intersection to the Sylvanite Work Center.
- Pine Creek Road 395, from the Yaak 508 intersection, north to Curly Horse Lane.
- All of Seventeen Mile Road 471.
The Sheriff’s Office says residents should be making final preparation for the possible evacuation of these areas and deputies will start visiting each property in the pre-evacuation area to take resident information.
The South Yaak fire is burning 4,100 acres and is about 20 & contained.
The Anderson Hill Fire that burned 750 acres in Granite and Powell counties one mile southeast of the Garnet Ghost Town is now 100% contained, according to the Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation. A final fire update from the DNRC says evacuation orders are being lifted after about 20 individuals were evacuated in Granite County. The Bureau of Land Management has re-opened the Garnet Ghost Town historic site, but some closures in the area remain in place for public safety. The cause of the fire is under investigation
New Fires
The National Interagency Fire Center or NIFC reports there were 13 new fire starts in Montana on Thursday, prompting moderate initial attacks by federal, state and local firefighters. Just over half of those fires were contained or controlled by Thursday night.
The two largest new fire starts are the 42 acre Lodge Grass Dump 4 Fire burning dump debris and the 36 acre Smoke 390 Fire burning grass and sagebrush, both in Big Horn County. The Lodge Grass Dump Fire was contained as of Thursday night.
NIFC reports there are 33 uncontained large fires and 36 active fires in total covering nearly 468-thousand acres in the Northern Rockies. That includes Montana, North Idaho, North Dakota and parts of South Dakota and Wyoming.
The National Interagency Situation Reporting Programs identifies 72 percent of the current fires in Montana as human caused. The rest are lightning caused.
Montana Disaster and Emergency Services reports only ten of the state’s 56 counties do not have a Stage-1 or Stage-2 fire restriction in effect.
Both the Northern Rockies and National fire preparedness levels are at 5, the highest level because of widespread fire activity.
Timberland Closures
More than 700,000 acres of private timberlands in northwest Montana are closing lands to public access and recreation over concerns of high fire danger. The latest closures were announced Friday.
Five private timberlands joined Stimson Lumber Company in closing access to their land. They include Green Diamond Resource Company, SPP Montana, Flathead Ridge Ranch, MKH Montana, and F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber.
Montana, Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Dillon Tabish says the private timberlands are popular for recreationalists and make up about one-third of the northwest Montana region.
“But when the conditions are like they are right now, it’s very appropriate to close these lands to public access and reduce any risk of wildland fire right now.”
The restrictions include firewood cutting, non-motorized use and walk-in use.
The closures take effect Monday and will remain in place until further notice when there is less fire danger.
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