Lightning sparks fires across the state

Amanda Burkhart (7/24/09)

     As July wears on, more fires are cropping up around the state. Last night's lightning storms sparked twelve new fires in Missoula, Ovando, Seeley Lake, and Lincoln. All of these fires were small, between a 0.1 and 0.2 acres in size. Crews also reported a few new starts near Kalispell, Helena and Anaconda.
     Outside Stevensville, just south of Missoula, part of the Kootenai Creek Fire sparked again. Flames reached the ridge between Kootenai Creek and Bass Creek.
     Fire also reached the Kootenai Creek Trail on the bottom of the canyon. In all 650 acres have burned. The terrain is steep, rocky and too hazardous for firefighters. The Kootenai Creek Trial and the area half mile on each side of the trail and the lakes is closed to the public.