As smoke fills the skies of Southwest Montana and record-breaking temperatures are expected throughout Labor Day weekend, it’s a good time for a reminder of the high fire danger facing southwest Montana. A fire north of Belgrade spread because of high winds and as we head into the holiday weekend everyone needs to be aware of high fire danger.
“The campfire, the cooking outside just doesn’t do it this weekend, skip that this weekend, I get it's Labor Day weekend but we also want to make sure we're safe in our community as the fire risk continues to grow,” says Bozeman Fire Department, Fire Chief Josh Waldo.
Before doing anything this weekend, check the rules before lighting anything on fire.
“Obviously before you do any top open burning you need to make sure your jurisdiction allows it,” says Waldo.
Even though it is September and fall seems to be right around the corner, the risk of fire doesn’t end.
“This is really the peak season for fires,” says Waldo.
You don’t have to look too far back to remember large fires can spark this time of year.
“But as August is transitioning into September this is probably our last run hopefully of that really warm and dry - if you think about the Bridger Foothills fire a couple of years ago, that was Labor Day weekend,” says Waldo.
The Bridger Foothills Fire scorched over 8,000 acres outside of Bozeman. The fire destroyed 30 homes, burning for more than a month. Departments across the valley are on standby just in case the worst-case scenario takes place.
“We all work together in this valley, that if something is going on at Central Valley, something is going on in the city of Bozeman, that were prepared to step in and help each other at a moment’s notice,” says Waldo.
Extreme high fire danger remains high throughout the weekend stay up to date on our Storm Tracker Weather app.
