Monday, September 23
The Bitterroot National Forest, Stevensville and Darby-Sula Ranger Districts, took control of the fires from Team 5 and are continuing efforts on suppression repair. The Stevensville District is overseeing the Sharrott Creek Fire while Darby-Sula District is overseeing the Johnson and Railroad-Daly Fires.
CHANGES TO CLOSURES
- The Sharrott Creek Fire Area closure is still in effect but was reduced in size (effective Sept. 18).
Area, road and trail closures remain in effect for the St. Mary’s face between Big Creek Trail and Kootenai Trail. Both Big Creek Trail and Kootenai Creek Trail are open. Please avoid St. Mary’s Road near the forest boundary due to fire traffic and heavy equipment working there.
- The Johnson Fire Area and the Railroad-Daly Fire Area Closures were terminated on Friday, Sept. 20, at 8 a.m.
The Skalkaho Highway (Highway 38) road closure was modified by Montana DOT on Sept. 20 at 7 a.m. and is closed from milepost 14.1 to 21.4. MDOT is assessing when the state road will be completely opened.
Forest Service Road 75 (Skalkaho Rye) is open.
Forest Service Road 711 is open; however, you cannot get to Hwy 38 from Road 711.
Visit MDOT for the most updated information on Hwy 38: https://www.mdt.mt.gov/.
More information on Bitterroot National Forest area closures can be found at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/bitterroot/alerts-notices
New Incident Commanders:
Johnson Fire: Type 4 Incident Commander, Brian Ries
Sharrott Creek Fire: Type 4 Incident Commander, Jeremy Kroeker
Railroad and Daly Fires: Type 4 Incident Commander, Zach Lee
CURRENT STATUS
On the Sharrott Creek Fire, there are 35 personnel including 3 excavators, 1 road grader and 1 water tender. Resources are continuing to assess remaining fire activity and complete all suppression repair activities on both Forest Service and private property. Fire activities are 87% completed. There is minimal fire behavior with some interior creeping and smoldering. Some smoke will continue to be visible as the weather changes and becomes warmer and drier.
On the Railroad-Daly Fires, there has been minimal fire activity over the weekend. However, with warmer conditions this week, some fire growth is predicted.
On the Johnson Fire, excavators continue to work on roads.
WEATHER AND FIRE BEHAVIOR
Weather for southwest Montana: A warming and drying trend is forecasted through Wednesday. Ridge breakdown is expected late Wednesday, with breezy conditions with a low chance of showers. Thursday temperatures return to seasonable with near zero chance of a wetting rain through the weekend.
Specific weather over the Sharrott Creek Fire: Warm and dry conditions will persist through the forecast period. Winds will be primarily out of the west at or under 10 mph today. Tuesday, temperatures will trend a couple degrees warmer with slightly lower Minimal Relative Humidities.