HELENA — The Lewis and Clark County Commission voted this Tuesday morning to implement stage one fire restrictions for the county.
Currently, in the Northern Rockies, we are at a preparedness level 4 for fire danger out of 5, which means that the potential for significant fire incidents indicates resource demands will continue or increase.
Throughout Helena and surrounding areas, experts told the Commission there is extreme fire danger.
"We have really poor fire weather conditions. Everything is dry. It's hot. We have a lot of wind, and we can't control that. But what we can control is human start fire," says Kyle Sturgill-Simon, Lewis and Clark County Emergency Manager.
The current restrictions essentially boil down to two elements.
First, smoking near any flammable materials is not allowed.
Second, campfires on public or private property are only allowed within an improved fire ring or pit made of solid metal, stone, or cement and can be no larger than 48 inches across.
The restrictions come as fire activity and demand for resources across the state increase.
Some $37 million has already been spent on fires over 100 acres in Montana so far this year.
With nearly 85% of wildfires caused by humans, Rocky Infanger, Fire Chief for Wolf Creek Craig Fire Service Area & Lewis and Clark Fire Council Representative, says stage 1 restrictions are an important reminder of the responsibility each of us has to prevent wildfires.
"We're trying to eliminate human-caused fires as much as possible. That's the one thing we have that we can control. We can't control the lightning or anything like that. So, we're trying to make the public more aware of, you know, we need to be careful out there," says Infanger.
Scott Ward, Helena Unit Fire Management Officer for Montana DNRC, says that initial attack is their best bet for containing a fire and mitigating its potential disastrous effects.
"Everybody is having fires, and so all the resources are very limited on what we can get ... So, we've been pulling in resources from the East Coast, New York, Massachusetts ... The public are our eyes on the hills, okay. When the storms blow through, seeing the smoke on the hillside, confirming that it's a smoke, and reporting it," says Ward.
If conditions worsen, more restrictions could be put in place.
"As you just heard in the commission meeting that we're very dry and there are starts happening all the time whether they be big fires, small fires, but there's always a potential for them to be very big. So, we ask that everybody be very careful when they're out and report anything that they might see," says Undersheriff with Lewis And Clark County, Brent Colbert.
