Human Cause Fires A Cause For Concern

Fire Danger in Missoula county is VERY HIGH. But that's the good news...

Fire danger has been EXTREME but fire managers from the Missoula Fire Protection association say that recent rain and cooler temps had lowered the fire danger on the ground, but it is still very high, which means that fires can "start easily from all causes, immediately spread rapidly and increase in intensity rapidly", according to Kristen Mortenson of the DNRC.

The County has had 21 reported wildland fires in the last week and only one-third of those wildfires were reported as lightning caused—even with the plentiful lightning that we have received. Unattended and/or escaped campfires are the top culprit for human caused fires in Missoula County this year.

Missoula Rural Fire District Chief Chris Newman, says, "We can’t regulate the lightning, but we CAN control our human caused sparks."