The Daily Inter Lake posted their daily fire summary late last night. Among other things, it appears the Ninko Creek Fire had grown to 500 acres as of Sunday evening.
High winds late into Saturday night fanned fires across western Montana.
Sustained gusts as high as 30 mph in some places with even stronger winds in higher elevations led to increased fire activity in many of the area’s active wildfires, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
We’ve added some new material and reviewed and updated the links on the Fire Information Links Page. Mostly, this was a matter of chasing down the ever-changing location where the Flathead National Forest posts its fire data.
At present, the link to the Fire Information Page has a permanent home in the “NFPA Site Links” section of the sidebar. We’ll likely be moving it to a tab on the navigation bar one of these days.
Yesterday’s stiff winds blew up the Ninko Creek Fire to 500 acres from the previous 35. Here’s the latest information, as reported by the Flathead Beacon . . .
The Ninko Creek Fire located approximately 40 miles north of Columbia Falls in the Whale Creek Drainage on the Flathead National Forest had increased fire activity on Saturday, September 26. The fire increased to approximately 500 acres and is burning towards the 2003 Wedge Fire. The fire remains to the north of Forest Road #10355. Resources assigned to the incident include the Flathead Hot Shot Crew, several fire engines including two contract engines, and aerial resources. Forest Roads #318, #9805 and #907, Whale Creek, Ninko Creek and Wedge Canyon Roads, are closed at this time. Trail closures in the area are anticipated as well.
This one’s becoming a nuisance, folks.
If you want to keep an eye on things, see the InciWeb listing for the Ninko Fire.
Strong, gusty winds accompanying a cold frontal passage this evening may fan area fires. The Daily Inter Lake has a write-up, including some discussion of the Ninko Creek Fire north of Whale Creek . . .
A fire red flag warning has been issued for Western Montana today as strong winds, coupled with low humidity and dry fuels, are expected to significantly increase fire danger.
The warning, in effect from this afternoon through tonight, comes as meteorologists predict that a passing cold front will bring widespread and sustained westerly winds of 15 to 30 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
At some higher elevations, winds could blow from 30 to 50 mph with gusts of up to 80 mph, according to meteorologists who issued the warning Friday afternoon.
This is the full-frame view of the photo we’re using for our banner right now. It was taken September 20, 2009 by Ken Stolz and shows the glow of the Ninko Creek Fire as seen from the shore of Teepee Lake. Click the image for a larger view.
Yesterday’s Daily Inter Lake had a good summary of fire activity in the Flathead National Forest, including the lightning-caused Ninko Creek fire just north of Whale Creek . . .
The Flathead National Forest has three wildfires on its hands, along with several prescribed fire projects.
Lightning that moved through the area earlier this week triggered the Ninko Creek Fire in the North Fork Flathead drainage and the Ashley Divide fire just west of Kalispell.
A Canadian Press article posted yesterday evening . . .
Environmentalists say a natural treasure in the United States is threatened by proposed coal and gold mining in southeastern B.C., and they’ll ask United Nations environmental experts later this week to put some pressure on the province to stop the developments.
The UN environmental experts are currently in Montana gathering information about the potential damage B.C. mining proposals could inflict upon Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in that state, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Biosphere Reserve.
We’re starting to see more complete news coverage of this week’s visit by a U.N. scientific delegation investigating mining and other resource development threats to Waterton-Glacier Park.
The Missoulian posted an excellent article on the first day’s activities very early this morning. Here’s the lead-in . . .
A team of scientists from the United Nations is visiting Glacier National Park, assessing potential threats posed by mining plans in Canadian wildlands upstream of the park.
Glacier, in partnership with adjacent Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, was named a World Heritage Site in 1995; that UNESCO designation recognizes the area’s spectacular natural resources, including its diversity of wildlife and its role as a “biological crossroads.
But several Canadian companies are interested in resources that lie just beyond the two park boundaries – namely coal, gold and coalbed methane. British Columbia’s provincial government already has granted exploration permits in the Canadian Flathead River drainage, which flows south into Montana to form Glacier Park’s western boundary.
A UN delegation is scheduled to visit Glacier National Park this week and locations in the Canadian Flathead as part of UNESCO’s investigation into threats to Waterton-Glacier Park posed by coal mining and other proposed extractive activities. So far, the only recent news is a short, uninformative AP article.
No further information yet. We’ll post coverage as it becomes available.
For those of you who wish to keep track of this season’s wolf hunt, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Has a web page, updated daily, showing the harvest status in the various “Wolf Management Units” throughout the state. The North Fork has its own special subunit with a limit of two wolves.
Links . . .
FWP’s “Wolf Hunting Season Status” page
Write-up on wolf hunt status and related information in the Flathead Beacon