This afternoon the sun came out for a while and much of the fire activity shifted toward the west so I went down there to get a visual fire update from that end.
Look at all those beautiful golds and russets — autumn is coming! The colors combine so beautifully with the green trees. It’s just awful what’s happened — and a real shame that there’s not been much coverage at all from the national media. I suppose it’s an example of out of sight, out of mind — and the fact that the media are on the coasts and more inclined to report on events there. At least it seems there’s state-wide rain forecast for this week. We’ll hope that it’s more than forecast, and that it comes without lightning, thank you very much!
Yes, it appears that Fall is rapidly approaching. The local forecast is for some days in the 50’s and nights in the mid 30’s and possibly some rain. Those things would make it a lot better! The fire is still far from being over though.
I grieve for some of the country that this one has visited, but it was inevitable. As with all big fires, it will be surprising to see what has burned and what has been left alone.
Within the perimeter of the fire there will be large areas of char and ash, but also patches of practically untouched forest which will continue as before. With the shallow, rocky soil and very limited rainfall, the badly burned places will take two hundred years for full restoration.
Yes, the smoke does look like mist coming off the river, almost tropical. I’ve thought many times while looking at the fire from a distance that it looked like a typical Autumn day with clouds hanging low on the mountains and valley fog lingering in the valley.
Thank you Lores! I’m glad that you like seeing part of the forests here that I love so much. These old forests represent a lot of the Earth’s history, and what a lot of people have not yet begun to understand, if they all disappear or are used up to make some people wealthy, there will not be a future.
This fire still has a lot of burning to do. Fortunately the crews have been able to get some control over the east and north flanks of the fire where there are homes in jeopardy, but it is advancing now to the west and south and there’s a lot of forest up there that can burn. Rain is forecast for Thursday and perhaps Friday, but even an inch wouldn’t stop the fires. The fire near here last year was stopped by snowfall in about the middle of October.
The sight can be overwhelming to some folks. A fire like that is clearly something over which we have no control. At best we can keep people safe and save some of their property.
Our weather has changed very abruptly with some much cooler temperatures and a little bit of rain. It is keeping the fire down now and the fire crews are making good progress in containment. I hope it stays that way for awhile!
The recent weather shift has made things a whole lot better. People are now saying that the fire season is over, but the fire managers know better. There is still a lot of work to be done and we are still at the mercy of the weather. At least it is very much improved.
Yes, it was an intense few weeks locally. The fire crews did an amazingly excellent job in saving to many homes under some very difficult circumstances!
Look at all those beautiful golds and russets — autumn is coming! The colors combine so beautifully with the green trees. It’s just awful what’s happened — and a real shame that there’s not been much coverage at all from the national media. I suppose it’s an example of out of sight, out of mind — and the fact that the media are on the coasts and more inclined to report on events there. At least it seems there’s state-wide rain forecast for this week. We’ll hope that it’s more than forecast, and that it comes without lightning, thank you very much!
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Comment by shoreacres — September 11, 2017 @ 9:14 pm
Yes, it appears that Fall is rapidly approaching. The local forecast is for some days in the 50’s and nights in the mid 30’s and possibly some rain. Those things would make it a lot better! The fire is still far from being over though.
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Comment by montucky — September 11, 2017 @ 9:38 pm
I just love Montana, and it’s such a shame that this fire is scarring it.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — September 11, 2017 @ 11:02 pm
I grieve for some of the country that this one has visited, but it was inevitable. As with all big fires, it will be surprising to see what has burned and what has been left alone.
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Comment by montucky — September 12, 2017 @ 8:26 am
And what will regenerate.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — September 12, 2017 @ 10:22 am
It’s hard to know what to think when one sees such destruction. Hopefully the land will heal quickly!
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Comment by centralohionature — September 12, 2017 @ 4:02 am
Within the perimeter of the fire there will be large areas of char and ash, but also patches of practically untouched forest which will continue as before. With the shallow, rocky soil and very limited rainfall, the badly burned places will take two hundred years for full restoration.
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Comment by montucky — September 12, 2017 @ 8:32 am
Could almost believe the river is going over a fall and that’s mist coming up like at Niagara. Almost.
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Comment by Pat — September 12, 2017 @ 6:39 am
Yes, the smoke does look like mist coming off the river, almost tropical. I’ve thought many times while looking at the fire from a distance that it looked like a typical Autumn day with clouds hanging low on the mountains and valley fog lingering in the valley.
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Comment by montucky — September 12, 2017 @ 8:34 am
Really really enjoying following you. Much appreciated visuals and comments. Sincerely Lores
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Comment by dolores — September 12, 2017 @ 8:12 am
Thank you Lores! I’m glad that you like seeing part of the forests here that I love so much. These old forests represent a lot of the Earth’s history, and what a lot of people have not yet begun to understand, if they all disappear or are used up to make some people wealthy, there will not be a future.
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Comment by montucky — September 12, 2017 @ 8:40 am
I hope it’s not as bad as it looks. With any luck you might see some rain.
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Comment by New Hampshire Garden Solutions — September 12, 2017 @ 2:45 pm
This fire still has a lot of burning to do. Fortunately the crews have been able to get some control over the east and north flanks of the fire where there are homes in jeopardy, but it is advancing now to the west and south and there’s a lot of forest up there that can burn. Rain is forecast for Thursday and perhaps Friday, but even an inch wouldn’t stop the fires. The fire near here last year was stopped by snowfall in about the middle of October.
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Comment by montucky — September 12, 2017 @ 4:29 pm
Holding thumbs for rain to put an end to the devastation.
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Comment by de Wets Wild — September 12, 2017 @ 7:52 pm
Rain would sure help. Just minutes ago though the winds picked up and it looks as though the fire just blew up in an area off the southeast corner.
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Comment by montucky — September 12, 2017 @ 8:17 pm
That’s not the good news we were hoping for…
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Comment by de Wets Wild — September 13, 2017 @ 3:54 am
Not good at all! There were several miles of flame up there last night but I haven’t been able to see much of what’s going on yet this morning.
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Comment by montucky — September 13, 2017 @ 7:54 am
Seems very frightening! Gorgeous set of fantastic photos.
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Comment by Sartenada — September 13, 2017 @ 1:04 am
The sight can be overwhelming to some folks. A fire like that is clearly something over which we have no control. At best we can keep people safe and save some of their property.
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Comment by montucky — September 13, 2017 @ 7:53 am
Autumn is starting to show .. come on rain .. or early snow!
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Comment by Julie@frogpondfarm — September 15, 2017 @ 7:45 pm
Our weather has changed very abruptly with some much cooler temperatures and a little bit of rain. It is keeping the fire down now and the fire crews are making good progress in containment. I hope it stays that way for awhile!
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Comment by montucky — September 15, 2017 @ 9:21 pm
Oh that is such great news!
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Comment by Julie@frogpondfarm — September 15, 2017 @ 10:41 pm
Those photos of the smoke obliterating the mountains are amazing. I hope it ends soon and that you will be pleasantly surprised at all that remains.
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Comment by Candace — September 16, 2017 @ 2:07 am
The recent weather shift has made things a whole lot better. People are now saying that the fire season is over, but the fire managers know better. There is still a lot of work to be done and we are still at the mercy of the weather. At least it is very much improved.
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Comment by montucky — September 16, 2017 @ 9:33 am
There’s a wildland’s group meeting at 5:30 on 9/20/17 at the State building in TF concerning the Cube Iron/Silcox if you’re interested.
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Comment by llbbcc — September 18, 2017 @ 12:49 pm
Thanks for the info, but I didn’t want to pass along my cold!
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Comment by montucky — September 20, 2017 @ 8:05 pm
I will let you know when the next one is in November.
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Comment by Anonymous — September 21, 2017 @ 7:24 am
Thank you! I will be interested!
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Comment by montucky — September 21, 2017 @ 8:24 am
such dramatic and wonderful photos. But so intense to be around and life there will never be the same.
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Comment by Tammie — September 22, 2017 @ 2:10 pm
Yes, it was an intense few weeks locally. The fire crews did an amazingly excellent job in saving to many homes under some very difficult circumstances!
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Comment by montucky — September 22, 2017 @ 8:04 pm