WISE RIVER — Two wildfires burning south of town have grown significantly over the weekend and have flooded this valley with smoke forcing the closure of several campgrounds along the Pioneer Scenic Byway as fire officials prepare this week to set up an incident command center at the Wise River Airport.
“It’s kind of scary, you know, we don’t really have any of this back home,” said fisherman Mason Grant Monday.
Grant and his family were visiting from North Carolina to do some fly fishing at the Big Hole and Wise River. However, the rapidly spreading Bobcat Lakes and Sand Creek wildfires are changing some of their plans.
“We were planning on going a little further up, so we might not be able to do that now, so we’re just going to have to stay a little further away from it,” Grant said.
The U.S. Forest Service is hoping to set up a command center near Wise River soon, but are waiting for more resources tied up by other fires in the region.
“There’s a lot of fires, especially in Idaho, Oregon and Washington and we have a few in Montana, but resources can be challenging,” Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest Public Information Officer Michelle Peterson said.
Officials have closed some of the campgrounds along the bywayas the fire activity increases.
“Once you get up to Lodgepole Campground, it’s really smoky, and the next valley up, really smoky,” Missoula resident Andrew Coe, who was visiting the area, said.
As of Monday, the Bobcat Lakes Fire was estimated at over1,500 acres and the Sand Creek at 1,000 acres. The fires are burning in remote, rough terrain, and crews to contain them and protect property in the area.
“Any of the structures along the scenic byway, as well as structures around Jerked Prairie. We’re hoping to keep the fire west of the byway,” Peterson said.
