While the rest of the state dealt with smoky skies, fires in Northwest Montana remained calm late this week.
According to Melissa Wilson, spokesperson for the Flathead National Forest, there were no new fires in the area and although the three large fires that started last week were active, they grew little. As of Friday morning the Big Salmon Lake Fire and Hammer Creek Fire, both deep in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, were 3,000 and 2,800 acres respectively.
Further south, near Swan Lake, firefighting operations were winding down and those crews who remained were taking on an observational role, although they were forced into action on Thursday afternoon when fire crossed a point called Swan Crest. As of Friday morning the fire was 1,589 acres.
According to the website Inciweb.org, which is partially operated by the U.S. Forest Service, there were a dozen active fires around the state on Friday morning, not counting a handful of smaller fires that were out of its jurisdiction.
As of Friday morning, the Diamond Complex Fire was the largest wildfire in the state, located in the Custer National Forest east of Billings. It was reported to be burning over 39,000 acres. In Western Montana, the West Riverside Fire continued to burn near Missoula and measured at 2,100 acres. Also on Thursday afternoon the Granite Pass Fire started up near Lolo Pass on the Montana-Idaho border. As of 2 p.m. Friday it had burned more than 30 acres and 50 firefighters were assigned to battle the blaze, with more on the way.