Single Publication

Northern Rockies Team 5, Incident Commander Joe Sampson 

Location: Three miles west of Stevensville, Montana 

Start Date: 8/23/2024 

Cause: Lightning 

Size: 3,204 

Completion: 60% 

Total Personnel: 293 

Current Status  

Crews continue to ‘mop up’ along the fire perimeter, looking for areas of residual heat. Firefighters will work alongside resource advisors from the local Forest to plan and implement suppression repair efforts using hand tools to pull back constructed firelines while assessing the impact of the recent precipitation. Efforts will also include placement of waterbars to prevent erosion from runoff. Crews are removing unnecessary equipment from the line, given the recent precipitation and subsequent fire activity. 

Weather and Fire Behavior  

Rain is expected to decrease by noon as skies become partly cloudy in the afternoon. Temperatures in the valley will reach the upper 60s while temperatures at higher elevations will stay in the high 50s, winds will become 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Another system of moisture is expected to move into the region by Monday. 

Fire activity will remain minimal with creeping and smoldering continuing throughout the coming days.  

RESTRICTIONS and CLOSURES   

- Area closures are in effect from North Fork Sweeney Creek to Sweathouse Creek. More information on Bitterroot National Forest area closures can be found at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/bitterroot/alerts-notices  

- The Bitterroot National Forest is currently in Stage I Fire restrictions within the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness. 

- A Temporary flight restriction (TFR) is in place west of Highway 93 from Bass Creek to Big Creek.