Horrible lightening storm last night and as of noon today there had been over 2 dozen new fires from the storm in the county where I live. (Northwest MT)I watched two burning on the mountains all day today and the choppers were flying non-stop, scooping up water from the river and dumping it on them.

This area is usually very lush and green but with no rain since late June combined with the unusually high temperatures and strong winds, the whole area has turned into a disaster just waiting to happen. Total ban on any activity that might cause a spark including cutting firewood or driving on roads that are in the forest.

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), August 11, 2000

Answers

Hello Marci, I am from southwest Mt. close to Sula/Dillon area, where there has been uncountable fire action all summer. I can not remember it being this dry ever in Mt. and the people that have lived here all their lives have never seen anything like this summer. It could be an interesting summer before it is over.

-- Suzanne Wilson (mtsuz@hotmail.com), August 16, 2000.

Hello, I read the post on the fires and wanted to let those in fire areas know we have had a ongoing program called critters for kids,we have organized in kalispellfor those in fire danger that need safe havens for their animals from anywhere in the state can contact critters for kids we have private facilities available for your animals, no charge, they can stay at these facilities for as long as you need them to we have talked with representatives from purina and many other places and are bringing in hay, we have trucks and trailers and many volunteers to haul animals out to safety, you may contact Critters for kids at 1-877-858-2949. or 253-LOVE, someone will be manning the phones at all times, please call if you need assistance!WE are working with local vets and Flathead combined training association and The backcountry horseman, for those in the Eureka area we have facilities in Your area also, many are currently being moved to the fair grounds in Eureka, they will have to be moved wednesday night as the fair needs the space, so please anytime day or night call us if you need assistance for your livestock!There are fliers posted in Eureka and Kalispell also hamilton and any fire areas! Lee

-- Lee Gardner (crittersforkids@in-tch.com), August 18, 2000.

Lee, what a wonderful plan. I hope everyone that needs to use the services will know about them. We had a thread earlier here where we discussed a little bit about evacuation plans for livestock and there were some good ideas. Hopefully it's easy to find in the archives if anyone wants to look.

I heard on the radio this a.m. that there is a huge power line from Montana that supplies electricity to Washington State. Apparently there is some risk of it going down in a fire nearby. These blazes are having impacts in many ways.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), August 18, 2000.