Officials Warn Mont. Residents on Fires
Wildfires have blackened some 350,000 acres of Montana this summer, and several hundred people remain either evacuated or on alert that they may need to evacuate.
The cooler, damper weather and low fire activity during the weekend gave crews at least a few days to strengthen their defense.
``We've got a lot better lines around some of the fires ... and we had some really good reports from the fire crews this morning,'' Sandy Kratville, an information officer with the Northern Rockies Interagency Information Center in Missoula, said Monday.
Three major fire groups in Glacier National Park were all at least 60 percent contained as of Monday, Kratville said. And in the past week, she said, seven major fires had been contained.
``We are definitely making some progress,'' she said.
However, about 35 miles outside Missoula, 195 people remained evacuated because a 24,000-acres blaze was just a half-mile from their homes.
The weather gave crews the chance, for the first time, to make progress building lines between the homes and the fire.
``We're taking advantage of the weather as we have it,'' said fire information officer Gary Hoshide.
To the south, in Wyoming, the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park was closed Monday so firefighters could conduct a burnout along the roadway in an effort to block two fires that have charred a total of nearly 21,000 acres.
``As soon as we get done with that we'll move real fast toward containment,'' said fire spokesman Greg Thayer.
The east entrance, one of five into Yellowstone, had been closed for more than a week because of the fires. It was reopened for limited traffic during the weekend but closed again Monday, sending travelers heading to the park from Cody, Wyo., on a 29-mile detour.
Large fires also were active Monday in Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington, the National Interagency Fire Center reported. So far this year, wildfires have blackened 2.5 million acres, compared to 6.1 million at the same time last year, the center said.
Eight firefighters returning home to Oregon after a two-week assignment on a blaze in Idaho were killed Sunday when their van collided with a truck near Vale, Ore.
Before Sunday, 19 people assigned to wildfires had died on duty this year, according to Tracey Powers, spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center.