Montana News Roundup: Our Biggest Wildfire (So Far)

A full team of firefighters is arriving this morning Sanders County, where a wildfire that started Saturday afternoon quickly grew to the largest in Montana so far this season, burning nearly a thousand acres.

The Banana Lake Fire is burning in mountainous terrain northeast of Plains and was first spotted late Saturday afternoon., Hot temperatures, low humidity and gusty winds helped it grow quickly, up to 200 acres by that evening and more than 600 acres by Saturday morning.

     The last estimates placed it over 850 acres on Sunday evening, but no evacuations have been ordered.

Governor gets the latest fire report

Governor Gianforte is scheduled to get his annual summer fire briefing today from the Montana DNRC and other fire management agencies. And with the sudden return of hot weather last week, and the forecasts from the federal Predictive Services showing above normal fire risk this summer, we're expecting the message to be one of preparation.

There have already been 345 wildfires in the state since the first of the year, 28 new fire starts last week, and 8 active fires through last night.

Powerful memories of uncertain times in Missoula

A powerful moment at The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula Saturday, with the official opening of a new barracks display, giving visitors a look inside the internment camp that held hundreds of Japanese and Italian naturalized citizens because of security concerns.

Missoula County Commissioner Josh Slotnick said the exhibit teaches lessons about the practice of justice and freedom.

"Creating a museum space like this, allows others to engage in that practice, through their visitation and learning the lessons incorporated here," Slotnick said passionately. "That's why we do this to make that practice of justice possible for the next generation of Missoulians."

"In the hopes that we don't ever do this sort of thing again. And I know, and we all know, we just might." -Missoula Co Commission Josh Slotnick

UM Professor Emeritus Ron Wakimoto, who didn't learn for years he's grandfather had been held, spoke about the "difference" at Fort Missoula, where the internees were treated with some dignity by the community. He had the honor of cutting the ribbon to the new exhibit he's helped with.

     The new exhibit is inside one of the original barracks that's been rehabilitated, showing displays of the artifacts and items used by the internees.

READ MORE: The Untold Story of WW2

In case you missed it

A sad end to the search for a missing Montana man who drowned in the Lochsa River.

The Idaho County Sheriff's Office confirmed yesterday searchers had recovered the body of 68-year-old Robert Jeffry Howe, who vanished while on a camping trip at the Wilderness Gateway Campground, which is 100 miles west of Missoula on Highway 12.

Searchers looked extensively along the shore, in the river, and from the air, eventually spotting his body about two miles downstream from the campground with a drone.

Montana Monday Math

According to Montana DNRC,. 7.053 acres have already burned in Montana in 2025.