Cooler, wetter weather expected to continue through weekend

During a regional fire call Tuesday, National Weather Service Glasgcow Lead Forecaster Ted Jamba said it looks like the region’s cool, wet weather will continue into the weekend, weather that has helped cull some fires in the region including the Pine Grove Fire.

Jamba said a cold front moved into the North East of Montana Monday evening and the west has seen lows in the 40s.

He said next week will be dryer and not quite as cool, but it’s unlikely to match the heat of the last couple months.

He said recent precipitation has helped alleviate the drought somewhat.

During the call Hill County DES Coordinator Amanda Frickel said the county saw six or seven fires, all on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation, all human-caused, that burned a total of 10 acres.

Blaine County Commissioner Frank DePriest said the last week saw only one fire, the ongoing Pine Grove Fire, which is now 98 percent contained.

A demobilization of resources deployed to fight the fire is under way, an update on the InciWeb Pine Grove Fire page said Tuesday morning.

The fire, which was detected Aug. 16, has burned 16,004 acres, burned at least one structure — where the fire started — and led to the evacuation of the communities of Zortman and Pine Grove.

The evacuations were lifted after rain and cooler weather helped firefighters’ efforts to contain the blaze, the the post Tuesday morning said the evacuation warnings for Zortman, Landusky, Pine Grove, Star Hill and Lodge Pole will lift tonight at 8 p.m.

Incident command was taken over by a state Type 3 Team last week, but the county assist team will be transitioned the fire over to a Type 4 Team managed by Fort Belknap Agency this morning, a team composed of an incident commander, one 20-person hand crew, and six engines.