Homeowners near the Roaring Lion Fire received some good news on Labor Day. According to Ravalli County Undersheriff Steve Holton, a change in the weather has led to a stage three evacuation notice, which is a good thing.

“We call it a Stage Three which is a return, but it basically means there are no evacuation warnings in effect due to the Roaring Lion fire,” said Holton. “We are actually a few week earlier than we anticipated. We are very happy about that because we thought we were going to be in that one for the long haul. To give the firefighters credit, they did an outstanding job keeping all that fire inside the containment lines.”

A pre-evacuation warning was still in effect for about 400 homes until Monday. Holton says firefighters are confident that even if the worst were to happen, there would be time to notify the public.

“There is still a fire fighting presence in the area,” Holton said. “They still have an engine that patrols in the afternoon at least in the burned areas for those hot spots that we know we are still there. Even if something was to happen, like get some wind we weren’t expecting, we would still have ample time to notify anyone in the area.”

The Roaring Lion Fire is still burning in the wilderness and is expected to do so until the snow falls in the valley.

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