MISSOULA — Lightning storms that hit northwest Montana on Wednesday have sparked over a dozen new fire starts on U.S. Forest Service lands in Sanders County.
Fire managers are trying to locate and staff all known fires with multiple aircraft and resources ordered with many already on scene, according to Sanders County Wildland Fire Information.
Lolo National Forest
The Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District is RD is responding to 10 new starts in Sanders County, part of over 20 new starts on the forest, with several of those in neighboring Mineral County.
The fires in Sanders County are in Siegel Creek and another in the Clark Fork River corridor in that area, Upper Graves Creek, 2 in the Clear Creek area, Thorne Creek, Winnemuck and Cataract.
The Bone fire, in the Swamp Creek drainage southwest of Plains, burned a tenth of an acre yesterday and is in patrol status.
The Maiden fire burned 8/10 tenths of an acre in grass on Wednesday morning in the Thompson Falls area.
Kootenai National Forest
Three fires were being responded to by the Cabinet Ranger District.
One was in Happy Gulch of the Vermilion River drainage, another in Beaver Creek and one called the Road 2731 fire.
