The various wildfires that have been ravaging the Bob Marshall Wilderness since at least August 16th, when they were first spotted, are largely under control. Firefighters and officials say, however, that the fires will continue burning for weeks, because the rough and dangerous terrain makes it impossible to contain them adequately. Meanwhile, the smoke coming out of the Bob Marshall Wilderness region is slowly creeping into the Helena Valley. No information has been released on the causes.
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Luckily, the winds that picked up earlier this week did not affect the Big Salmon Lake fire that has only grown insignificantly in size since Friday night. It now covers roughly 2,700 acres. Currently, 14 fire personnel are working against it, mostly engaged in protecting historic sites. “Those fires have not had a significant increase in size, but we’re still seeing fire burning within the existing perimeters,” Spotted Bear District Ranger Deb Mucklow told the Daily Inter Lake. “We have high winds reported on both fires, but it hasn’t caused the movement that we’ve seen previously.”
On their homepage, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation is constantly updating information on trail conditions in the affected areas. Currently, Trails # 110 , #111 and #451 are closed in the Big Salmon Creek drainage. “The Bob” creas are also performing structure protection measures at Salmon Forks Cabin, the Big Salmon Creek Suspension Bridge and the Little Salmon Pack Bridge. Before entering the park, please make sure to consult the official trail condition reports available here.
