The Montana Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Forest Service were focusing Tuesday afternoon on fires near Swan Lake and in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
The South Fork Lost Creek Fire had burned 490 acres of state and federal land, approximately 7 miles southeast of Swan Lake. Further south in the Flathead National Forest, the Hammer Creek Fire had grown to 140 acres. Both fires have forced trail and road closures in the areas immediately surrounding the fires.
According to officials with the Forest Service and DNRC, neither fire posed a direct threat to public safety.
“As long as they’re not up there hiking on closed trails and roads, it’s not a huge threat to the public,” said Pat Cross, fire information officer for the DNRC.
Cross said that four hand crews and five helicopters were on site trying to control the fire, which was burning in rough and steep terrain.
“We’re doing everything we can to keep it buttoned up on the west side, to keep it from going into the Swan Valley,” he said. “We’re quite confident in our ability (in) keeping it from going back downhill.”
The fire was first reported on Saturday afternoon, Cross said, and the cause is under investigation. It spread significantly on Sunday afternoon and he expected crews to be on site through the weekend and beyond.
Meanwhile, in the Flathead National Forest, officials were keeping an eye on the Hammer Creek Fire in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, 21 miles east of Condon. According to spokeswoman Melissa Wilson, the fire was first spotted on Aug. 8 and was last estimated to be 140 acres in size. Some hiking trails in the area have been closed.
“One of our prime objectives is to maintain firefighter and public safety and to do that we’ve issued some trail closures,” Wilson said.
Maintaining public access to the forest has been a priority, Wilson said, and earlier in the week smokejumpers were sent in to douse spot fires on the west side of the South Fork River.
“On the east side of the river we’re letting the fire take its natural course,” she said.
Wilson said that conditions were drying out across the region and warned people in the area to be mindful when in the backcountry. That warning was reiterated by Marty Whitmore, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Missoula.
“We’re not expecting any patterns of interest, but we’re expecting weather that’s good for fire,” he said.
Weather patterns are expected to remain dry for the next week, with afternoon winds becoming a staple, something that could feed the fires. Temperatures in the valleys are expected to be in the high 70s and 80s and in the mid-60s at higher elevations.