Fire season off to slow start

On Monday, approximately 50 fires had burned throughout all five districts of Lolo National Forest for the season. Boyd Hartwig, the public affairs officer for Lolo National Forest, said that typically they respond to around 200 fires in a season. He said the number that they've responded to this year is somewhat low.

"It's kind of low for this time of the year," Hartwig said. "We had a really wet spring so we're just now starting to see some fire activity."

Hartwig said that the fires they respond to in a given period will range from small, abandoned campfires that fall below a tenth of an acre to fires that burn hundreds of acres. No matter a fire's size, it is recorded and given a name.

The fire danger level for Mineral County has been resting on high, which Hartwig said is an indication that potential fuels are drying out. Hartwig said that when setting the danger level they look at everything from small twigs to eight inch logs.

"It's the dryness of the fuels and also the temperature. We're getting into these hot days," Hartwig said," and that contributes to larger fire potentials."

Hartwig said that the more intense burning periods will come in the afternoon and late afternoon as this is the hottest period of the day. He said that humidity also plays a role during fire season.

"When we have low humidity, which means dryer conditions as there's less moisture, there's a greater potential for fire to escape," Hartwig said.

The causes of fires vary each year. Human-caused fires can account for 15 percent of a season's fires or can account for as many as 50 percent of a season's fire. Lightening also is a cause of fires during fire season. Hartwig said that lightening caused fires generally occur in the backcountry, and while it is something crews respond to, they are generally not as destructive as human-caused fire.

"Human-caused fires tend to always be more problematic because they're always near resources," Hartwig said. "They're adjacent to roads, near power lines and can threaten homes and communities. Something that's near a structure or roads and power lines is more difficult and costly. The potential for destruction is greater."

Hartwig said that it's important that those burning a camp fire take caution to ensure that the camp fire is completely out as one ember that blows out can ignite a fire that burns acres.

"You have to make sure it's completely out and that's what people don't understand," Hartwig said.

Hartwig said that to properly put out a campfire you need to douse it with water, stir it around and put some dirt on it. He said that even if there's no visible smoke, one hot ember that blows out because of wind during a hot afternoon is all that it takes. He said that it is also important to never leave the campfire unattended even for a short time.