Fire preparedness

Jamie Doran

Valley Press

With the lack of rain in Sanders County the threat of fire due to the very dry conditions has increased, however there are currently no fire restrictions in place.

“We do not have any restrictions at the moment, as far as camping and use of campfires go,” U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Randy Hojem said. “However, that could happen as we continue to dry out.”

Hojem said the hot days strung together in a row have increased the danger along with the lack of rain, and that if this pattern continues people should be prepared for restrictions that might show up later in the summer.

Because of the dry weather there is a potential for starting fires and the potential for fires to spread rapidly over the dry land.

According to the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Web site, since Jan. 1 of this year there have been 68 wildfires in Montana, with 13,489 acres burned. In 2007 there were 1,875 fires in Montana with 778,079 acres burned.

Even though it has been a dry July, Hojem said that all-in-all it has been a wetter than normal year especially in the spring. He said that normally the fire season in Sanders County runs from mid-July until early September and there are about 100 fires a year they dispatch firefighters to and that they manage to catch most of those fires at a relatively small size.

“Last year was unusual,” Hojem said. “We had one fire that burned 99,000 acres, which is unusual, we are usually able to catch them before they burn too much.”

According to the National Integrated Drought Information System Web site, Sanders County, although dry, is not officially under a drought.

Hojem said the U.S. Forest Service works very closely with the DNRC as well as the Kootenai Tribe to keep an eye on fires or fire dangers in the area.

He said through this cooperation they are able to better monitor the danger of fire and better able to help prevent fires as well.

Hojem stressed that he wants people to be very careful with campfires and that there is no open burning allowed at the moment. “People cannot be burning brush piles or anything like that.”

While there aren’t any restrictions on campfires or camping at the present time, Hojem stressed that people really need to be careful when dealing with fires in any context.

“Even though there aren’t campfire restrictions currently, it is important that people are smart about what they’re doing with their fire,” he said. “That means not leaving it unattended and making sure it is completely out before you go to bed or leave, because with how dry things are, one little spark could set off a wildfire in some areas.”

He also said that it is important that people report any fire they see immediately. “If people encounter a fire, we need to know about it and they need to report it immediately,” he said. “The fire danger is very high right now, so people need to be careful and be vigilant of the danger.”

Cal Minemyer of the DNRC said that we’ve been in a pretty steady drought for several years now and we haven’t received enough moisture and that the fire danger for Sanders County is currently at “very high.”

Minemyer said that there is a pretty good possibility of restrictions and the first level would be Stage 1, which says that you can only build or maintain a campfire within a designated site and is prohibited in an enclosed vehicle, at a designated recreation site or in an enclosed building with an area of at least 3 feet in diameter away from all flammable materials.

If Sanders County were to move to Stage 2, then campfires would not be allowed and individuals would not be able to operate a motorized vehicle off-road.

“We are a little above average on how dry we are and just a little behind last year’s fire indicators by a week,” Minemyer said. “It is just getting hotter and dryer and our fire potential is getting higher.”

John Hamilton, who is the fire prevention technician for the Forest Service Station in Plains, said that he and the Forest Service are urging people to be very careful. “We’ve already found a few unattended campfires and that can be a big cause of a forest fire,” he said.

Hamilton said they try to educate people about the dangers of fires and it is important that people make sure they take all the necessary precautions when dealing with fire, and that usually people are pretty good about putting them out.

“The fire danger is getting worse, but it isn’t critical yet,” Hamilton said. “It is nothing like it was last year at this point.”

Hamilton said that the majority of the fires in this area are caused by lightening and so far this year there have been a half-a-dozen lightening fires. “We’re expecting some lightening in the next day or two, and I’m not sure what the moisture content is going to be like for that, so the possibility of a fire starting does exist,” he said. “If we don’t get some moisture soon, then it is going to get worse.”