Fire Watch 2012

Montana's arduous fire season coming to a close

Posted: Oct 17, 2012 12:18 PM by MTN News
Updated: Oct 17, 2012 12:25 PM

HELENA - It's finally coming to end after burning over a million acres and costing millions of dollars.

Montana's fire season will officially pass into the history books at midnight on Wednesday, after state officials signed a proclamation that effectively ending the Treasure State's wildfire season and rescinding fire restrictions for state and private classified forest lands across the state.

Fire officials note that there are still fire restrictions for parts of the state, and local government officials may choose to keep those in place a while longer, according to a news release.

"Just because our official fire season has ended doesn't mean the wildfire risk is completely gone," said Montana Department on Natural Resources and Conservation Director Mary Sexton. "While some areas of Montana have received significant rainfall, other parts of the state continue to be dry and some are still in moderate to high fire danger."

Montana's 2012 fire season was extremely active with fire activity beginning in earnest in mid-June and lasting into late September.

There are still several areas in Western Montana that are going to remain under Stage I restrictions, including: the Bitterroot National Forest, Ravalli County, private land within Butte-Silver Bow County and private land within Granite County.