Missoula has been extremely dry for weeks, causing numerous warnings and restrictions, but the area received some welcome rain on Saturday and early Sunday, in fact, a record amount.
The smoke pouring into western Montana valleys is coming from fires in British Columbia and from central and eastern Washington, according to the National Weather Service.
Montana Senator Steve Daines was in western Montana yesterday touring national forest sites and talking about the extreme fire danger throughout the state.
Montana Senator Steve Daines toured the Frenchtown Face Timber Project on Wednesday, and spoke with area forest stakeholders about the future of federal lands access and the historically extreme fire danger evident in Montana.
Western Montana is under a heat advisory for most of the weekend—reaching temperatures that most of the state hasn’t seen for over a century.
State Forester Bob Harrington told KGVO News that the fire season of 2015 could be among the worst ever. unless the area receives some much-needed rain.