Fire danger increasing in southwestern Montana, Yellowstone
The stuff that makes fire in southwestern Montana and Yellowstone National Park is drying out.
Due to decreasing moisture in trees and grasses, the U.S. Forest Service has upgraded the level of fire danger in the Bozeman area to “high.” All the other districts on the Custer Gallatin National Forest — which stretches from West Yellowstone to South Dakota — are at the same level. Fire danger in Yellowstone National Park is listed as “very high.”
Teri Seth, a spokeswoman for the Forest Service, said fire danger in the Bozeman area had been near high in recent weeks, but it hadn’t been sustained long enough to convince fire officials to upgrade the danger level. Now that they’ve reached that point, she said, the danger is already nearing “very high” territory.
Fire fuels have ripened slower here than in the rest of the state. Mike Richmond, a Missoula-based fire meteorologist with the Northern Rockies Coordinating Center, said that’s because while this summer was especially dry, southwestern Montana and Yellowstone National Park managed to collect some rain in July and August.
Read more: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/environment/fire-danger-increasing-in-southwestern-montana-yellowstone/article_54a4c90d-9850-5807-8f1c-c512cc773a1b.html
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