While fires burning in and around the Bob Marshall Wilderness are still listed as “active,” recent rains and cooler, longer nights have mostly put a lid on them.

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Federal and state wildland fire agencies will rescind Stage I fire restrictions on Wednesday throughout much of western Montana.

Included in the order are Flathead, Lake, Mineral, Sanders, Missoula, Powell, Ravalli, Granite, Deer Lodge and Silver Bow counties.

Restrictions will remain in effect on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

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With the early rifle season in wilderness areas opening today, the Spotted Bear Ranger District is urging backcountry hunters to be aware of multiple trail closures caused by ongoing wildfires in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

And Forest Service officials advise there could be more trail closures with future fire growth. The National Weather Service is forecasting increased westerly winds, especially in higher terrain across Northwest Montana starting later today and continuing into Friday.

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Several wildfires touched off by lightning Sept. 8 made galloping runs over the weekend along the Continental Divide, most of them in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

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A fire on the south side of Big Mountain and another in Marion drove home the point of the Flathead County Commissioners in imposing Stage 1 fire restrictions on private property in Flathead County…

As fire crews battled the two fires – both likely human-caused – and facing persistent hot and dry conditions that continued to fuel fires, the Flathead County Commissioners approved Stage 1 fire restrictions on Sept. 6.

The restrictions ban fireworks, require that campfires have a fire ring no larger than three feet in diameter and limits smoking to buildings, vehicles or areas that are cleared of vegetation…

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Recent rains, higher humidities and lower temperatures have put a damper on fires still burning in Northwest Montana.

About a half inch of rain was recorded Wednesday at Spotted Bear and the Big Prairie Ranger station in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, where the 4,100-acre Big Salmon Lake Fire and the 5,100-acre Hammer Creek Fire have been burning for the last few weeks…

There was a similar effect on the South Fork Lost Creek Fire, which has burned 1,681 acres just outside the wilderness about seven miles south of Swan Lake…

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The National Weather Service is forecasting a weather front that should cool down Western Montana fires, including a new one that recently emerged northeast of Libby.

A weather system is expected to invade the Northern Rockies Wednesday into Thursday, producing much lower temperatures and showers.

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The Hammer Creek Fire appears to have doubled in size over the last two or three days, according to updated reports on three active fires in Northwest Montana.

The Hammer Creek Fire, now estimated at 2,800 acres, has burned northeast from the South Fork Flathead River basin into the Lime Creek drainage, where fire managers had wanted it to go because of rocky ridges and other natural barriers that will eventually slow it down.

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Firefighters continued to tangle with a new fire east of Stryker while two fires in the Bob Marshall Wilderness were mostly unaffected by stiff winds Tuesday.

Soon after the Fitzsimmons Fire was detected Monday near the confluence of Fitzsimmons Creek and upper Stillwater Creek, it grew to 60 acres in steep, timbered terrain.

“They do have it 75 percent lined,” said Brian Manning, manager of the Stillwater State Forest. “The fire behavior was moderate enough that they could work on it directly today with some air support.”

The fire raises concerns about the potential for it to move upslope into the Whitefish Range.

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Although September is but a week away and students are returning to school, summer weather and wildfire season in Montana is far from over.

In fact, “we are hitting our peak right now,” said Brian Henry, a fire weather forecaster and meteorologist at the Northern Rockies Coordination Center.

“The next two weeks will be the most active part of our season and computer models tell us we will have an extended summer into September, and the fire season will likely linger before going to sleep on us.”

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