Missoula County Fire Danger Increases to ‘High’

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - After a Monday meeting, the Missoula County Fire Protection Association determined that fire danger in Missoula County should be raised from ‘Moderate’ to ‘High’.

I spoke with Public Information Officer Max Rebholz on Tuesday who explained the reasoning behind the change in fire danger.

Fire Danger for Missoula County Raised From 'Moderate' to 'High'

“The temperature and the fuels in combination with the vegetation drying out led to the decision,” said Rebholz. “There are different graphs and models that we look at. The big one is the energy release component, and those have different associated numbers that when vegetation is drying out to a certain extent if it ignites to release a certain amount of energy, and when they cross a certain threshold that causes us to move from moderate to high.”

Rebholz said there are no extra restrictions due to the ‘High’ fire danger designation.

There are No Further Restrictions Other Than No Open Burning

“Right now there are no restrictions,” he said. “In Missoula County outdoor burning by permit is closed. So that means if you have slash piles from doing some tree thinning on your property, or things like that, or you're planning a prescribed burn, that was shut down back on July 1.”

Rebholz provided more details on the new designation.

“Campfires are still allowed for the time being,” he said. “Barbecue fires are still allowed and they are still good to go, but that could change here in the coming weeks, potentially, if the heat and dryness remains. But for right now in Missoula County, at least, there are no fire restrictions other than just outdoor burning by the permit is closed, for those people that want to burn their slash piles.”

Click the Link Below for Statewide Fire Restrictions

Rebholz provided the official website for more fire danger information.

“For more current fire restriction information, because that's something that changes fairly quickly, folks are encouraged about where to go for information about fire restrictions across the entire state of Montana.”

Click here for statewide fire information.