Smoke blanketing the Flathead Valley Tuesday morning was the result of five “wildland fire-use” fires burning in the area that were sparked by lightning about 10 days ago.
Wildland fire-use fires are allowed to burn so than can play their “natural role in the ecosystem,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The largest of the area fires is 200 acres, and the smallest is less than one acre. Three of them are burning in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The following are details of those five fires:
• The Wildrose Fire is burning on 10 acres, about two miles southwest of Three Forks in the Great Bear Wilderness.
• The Shale Mountain Fire is burning on less than one acre in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, about five miles northeast of Big Prairie.
• The Cardinal Peak Fire is burning on 100 acres in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, about 13 miles east of Summit Lake Overlook.
• The Jumbo Point Fire is burning less than one acre in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, about 25 miles east of Summit Lake Overlook.
• The Triangle Fire is burning on 200 acres in the Great Bear Wilderness, about 10 miles northeast of Hungry Horse. Firefighters are using helicopters to drop water on the east side of the fire.
There are also fires burning in Canada.