Been doing lots of reading about the various wildfires in Montana and throughout the west. We have had lots of smoke drifting in from those fires keeping the air quality down for us in the Black Hills.
Wednesday afternoon there was lightning strike to the west of us that started a fire. The actual fire started about 5 miles to the west, but the wind was blowing westerly so all we were under was an alert, and the preliminary notice about evacuation if things got out of hand. Fire was/is 60% contained now, and full containment expected by early this evening. Appears it may only be small fire, and only two structures damaged. Wind changed today so now we have pretty heavy smoke now. Humidity dropped, temperatures going up, and fire potential advisory is out for the southern Black Hills though the weekend. Give me a SLIGHT idea of what others in the west have been experiencing throughout this summer!
Floods and storms down south, fires out west, mother nature can be a bitch!

P.S. was formerly walkinghorse but messed up on updating my info after the move, and using a new name as the only way I could get online. Hopefully one of the staff can get me back to my real name.

They're predicting a bad fire season for September in West River. With our drought being somewhere between 5 and 6 inches below normal it is to be expected unfortunately.

Have you reached out to Para, LDD, etc. regarding your member account / name?

a couple of days ago , smoke filled the hills and dales of the farm fields around our tiny town , it was coming all the way from Canada !

( if you can believe the local weatherman )

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
a couple of days ago , smoke filled the hills and dales of the farm fields around our tiny town , it was coming all the way from Canada !

( if you can believe the local weatherman )

Meh. Damn Canadians. Even the air that comes from Canuckland is caustic. They turn everything they touch into poison.

WHW, keep us informed of your needs if you face the worst of this.

H&K-Guy

It is very bad here in W. MT. Our fire is raging and no containment in sight. Property threatened and most likely lost today. Good luck to you guys.

Yep, mandatory evacs underway just down the road a piece.

Hopefully tomorrow doesn't get too ugly.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gustofer,

We have the largest fire in the country. Currently 138,000+ acres and growing fast. 7 homes lost and entire town under an evacuation notice. Smoke up here is so bad that stepping outside brings back memories of many fire camps I’ve been in. Ash is falling also. More towns being threatened. This fire gets under my skin as it started in a Wilderness with a lightning strike. Terrain too steep, so initial attack was pulled out, but they made a big mistake by pulling air attack off at that time also, so the opportunity of keeping the fire small and in the Wilderness was thrown away, we have this mess with thousands of peoples lives affected by this. Nothing but 90 to 100 degree temps and gusty winds in the forecast for the fire area for several more days and no rain in sight for at least a month or more.

Been working out of town for the past two days. A buddy of mine called me last night to let me know our fire was blowing up real good.

Got home this morning and my house and yard are covered in ash and charcoal.

I'm still a good two miles away but my anxiety level is up a bit. The farthest I've ever seen a fire spot is just over a mile, and if one of these hunks of charcoal had been hot enough it might have gotten a little sporty around here. Feeling much better about being here just in case rather than sitting an hour-and-a-half away not being able to do anything but watch through my Ring doorbell.

I really feel for you guys NW of us, up in Montana! The smoke from your fires showed up really bad this morning ahead of the coming cold front. Visibility went way down, and you can smell the smoke, even after traveling a lot of miles! We are under a severe fire watch here because the temperatures are up in the 90's and the humidity is down near 10% here. Stay safe up there, and hope everyone around here in the Hills watches what they are doing regarding fire safety practices. No storms or lightning in the immediate forecast here, but who knows? Labor Day weekend so a lot of people out and about!