17 fire starts kept under control by emergency crews

The Lolo National Forest is in Very High Fire Danger, and over the past few weeks several fires have started, including a five-acre burn near Cyr last Wednesday, Aug. 1. Hot wheel bearings from a semi-truck that lost a tire started the blaze near mile marker 71 on the north side — causing both lanes of traffic on Interstate 90 to come to a halt. There was construction in the eastbound lane, and so traffic was already confined to two lanes. After approximately a half hour, emergency responders were able to get traffic going again, and it took fire crews from the Frenchtown Fire Department and the Superior and Ninemile Ranger Districts about three hours to contain the fire. No injuries were reported.