© 2024 MTPR
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Montana Public Radio wildfire news
Montana Wildfire News
Wildfire, fire management and air quality news for western Montana and the Northern Rockies.

Prescribed Burn Underway In Pattee Canyon Near Missoula

Montana Public Radio | By Edward F. O'Brien
Published April 1, 2021 at 8:41 PM MDT
A prescribed underburn in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area near Missoula in the fall of 2019.
Lolo National Forest
A prescribed underburn in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area near Missoula in the fall of 2019.

A prescribed burn is responsible for a large plume of smoke in Pattee Canyon just outside Missoula Thursday.

"We don’t want anyone to be alarmed," Lolo National Forest spokesperson Kate Jerman says. "It is part of the Pattee Canyon maintenance project which is an ongoing project in that area working to reduce hazardous fuels in areas nearby Missoula."

Thursday's 30-acre prescribed burn operation took place in the popular Crazy Canyon recreation area, about 3 miles southeast of Missoula.

Favorable weather conditions permitting, Jerman says another 20-acre burn is anticipated in the same area Friday.

"There are no trail closures, but we are asking folks who are in the area to be aware that there are firefighters working in the area and to try to avoid those locations for now."

The smoke is anticipated to dissipate this weekend.

[Related: Fireline: Exploring What Wildfire Means For The West, Our Planet And Our Way Of Life]

Get the latest Montana wildfire, fire management and air quality news on your radio, via podcast, or in your inbox.
Tags
Montana News Lolo National ForestwildfirePattee CanyonKate Jermanprescribed burn
Edward F. O'Brien
Edward O’Brien first landed at Montana Public Radio three decades ago as a news intern while attending the UM School of Journalism. He covers a wide range of stories from around the state.
edward.obrien@umt.edu.  
(406) 243-4065
See stories by Edward F. O'Brien
Make a monthly donation
Become a sustaining member for as low as $5/month
Make a one-time donation
Make an annual or one-time donation to support MTPR
Pay pledge or update info
Pay an existing pledge or update your payment information
Related Content
  • Montana Wildfire News
    Montana Wildfire News
    Wildfire, fire management and air quality news for western Montana and the northern Rockies.
  • Fireline Episode 01: Suppressed
    Montana News
    Fireline Episode 01: Suppressed
    Wildfires across the country are getting bigger, hotter and more devastating. But what’s all this fire really mean — for the West, for firefighters and for everyday folks? Tag along with a firefighter in this episode of Fireline.
  • Fireline Episode 02: The Big Burn
    Montana News
    Fireline Episode 02: The Big Burn
    Nick Mott
    In 1910, a wildfire the size of Connecticut engulfed parts of Montana, Idaho and Washington. Ed Pulaski and his crew were among the many people trapped by the enormous blaze. The Big Burn, as it came to be known, helped propel a culture of fire suppression that still persists in many forms. What does that massive fire mean for the way our society deals with the wildfires of today?
  • Fireline Episode 03: Ring of Fire
    Montana News
    Fireline Episode 03: Ring Of Fire
    Nick Mott
    The connection between humans and fire goes back millions of years. What started with campfires and cooking grew into a burning addiction that catalyzed the Industrial Revolution and now shapes nearly every aspect of our society. Now, our ongoing reliance on fire in its many forms is changing the climate with explosive consequences for wildfires — and much more.
  • Montana News
    Grass Fires On Blackfeet Reservation Burn 39 Square Miles
    Associated Press
    GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Two grass fires pushed by strong winds burned 39 square miles (101 square kilometers) of land on the Blackfeet Indian…
  • Fireline Episode 04: The Gift Of Fire
    Montana News
    Fireline Episode 04: The Gift Of Fire
    For millennia, wildfire was part of life in North America. Indigenous people used it for tradition and ceremony, to improve the health of ecosystems, and to assist with hunting and gathering. But the arrival of white settlers marked the beginning of an era in which that knowledge about fire and its role on the landscape was suppressed. Now, Indigenous groups across the country are working to revive tribal relationships with fire.