Ravalli County Commissioner and board chairwoman Suzie Foss issued an executive disaster declaration for Ravalli County at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning. The disaster declaration will change the way that federal, state, and local emergency response crews function throughout the county.

Foss explained how the declaration will change the functioning of emergency resources. "Once we do the emergency declaration then that allows a lot of those functioning bodies of emergency management the freedom to call upon one another without having to run everything all of the time through us."

Suzie Foss on Disaster Declaration

According to Foss, the declaration also has financial implications "for reimbursement when people are called out into the forests verses taking care of things locally.

At 6:00 p.m. Monday evening at the Rocky Mountain Grange on hwy 93 south of Hamilton, members of the U.S. Forest Service will be meeting with the public and the media to help relay information about the Sawtooth and other fires. Forest Service members will attempt to give a three day forecast of what is expected to happen over the next few days.

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