wildfire

As Montana's fire season winds to a close, crews are closing-in on the handful of fires still burning across Western Montana.

Montana’s wildfire season is slowing down and trending well below average in the number of fires, acres burned and cost to the state.

The forecast of the state’s 2018 fire bill is only a sliver of the cost of last year’s historic fire season, according to a report from legislative researchers published Wednesday. 

Federal land managers are planning controlled burns in the Bitterroot and Blackfoot Valleys.

The Bitterroot National Forest is planning to start prescribed burning projects as early as this week, depending on weather. Fire managers plan to burn 2,200 acres this fall.

All Stage 1 and Stage 2 fire restrictions have been lifted across northwest Montana.

Put simply, that means campfires and outdoor smoking is allowed again. Restrictions have also been lifted on operating equipment.

A new wildfire burning on western Montana’s Flathead Reservation serves as a good reminder that the 2018 fire season still has some life in it.

The nearly 1,100-acre Rattlesnake Fire is burning about 10 miles northeast of Hot Springs.