9 August 2018 — 1647 mdt
The Flathead needs to go to Stage 2 fire restrictions Right Now!
So much for standing down. Public safety exigencies require comment.
The thermometer in the shade on my back porch reads 100°F. It’s still a few degrees cooler at Glacier International Airport, but the relative humidity is down to 18 percent and the rising south wind is blowing at nine miles per hour. Walking across my lawn, which I’m trying to water 24/7, the grass snaps, crackles, and pops, underneath my feet. Everything is tinder dry, ready to burst into flame at the slightest spark. The National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch Red Flag Warning for Friday and Saturday.
Yet, reports Jonathan Franz at the Flathead Beacon, fire restrictions are not yet in place in the Flathead:
Earlier this week, the fire danger was elevated to “extreme” in the Flathead Valley. Despite the elevated concern, fire restrictions have not been put in place and campfires and other activities remain legal. Restrictions have been put in place in other areas, including the Kootenai National Forest and Lincoln County, which have been in Stage 1 restrictions since last month. Parts of Lake County and the Flathead Indian Reservation will enter Stage 2 fire restrictions on Friday.
Stage 1 fire restrictions prohibit campfires outside of designated recreation sites or smoking anywhere outside of an enclosed vehicle or building.
Stage 2 fire restrictions prohibit any and all campfires, smoking outside, operating a vehicle off road or use of a combustible engine, welding torch or explosives between 1 p.m. and 1 a.m.
Fire officials in the Flathead, including Flathead County, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the Flathead National Forest and Glacier National Park, said during a press conference on Wednesday that fire restrictions would be considered if the number of human-caused fires increased or if large wildfires stretched local resources thin.
That approach makes no sense. When it’s bone dry, hot as hell, and everything is ready to burn, and not to just burn but to quickly become a conflagration, fire restrictions should be initiated whether or not the number of human-caused fires increase. The approach of the Flathead’s authorities is akin to waiting for nuclear war to break out before starting disarmament talks.
What’s really going on here, I suspect, is the determination of several business constituencies — tourism, agriculture, and logging — to avoid fire restrictions for as long as possible lest attempts to reduce the threat of fire reduce their bottomlines.
That’s understandable. But it’s also irresponsible.
Take a hint from California. The time to act is before the fires start. And it’s past time for Stage 2 in the Flathead.