Dillon BLM plans upcoming prescribed burns in Madison County
(DILLON, Mont.) – The Bureau of Land Management is planning several prescribed burns in Madison County during the upcoming spring months.
Smoke from the burn activity may be visible to the public from U.S. Highway 287, State Highway 287, County Route 248, and the communities of Ennis, Virginia City, Alder, Sheridan, Twin Bridges, and Dillon. The burns are planned for the following areas:
• South Tobacco Roots, about five miles north of Virginia City. The burn areas are north of the Granite Creek road, specifically in Mill and Granite creeks, consisting of approximately 1,700 acres.
• Middle Ruby, about 12 miles southwest of Virginia City. The burn areas are near Ruby Reservoir, specifically in Garden, Greenhorn, Jack, Idaho, and Davey creeks, consisting of about 5,000 acres.
BOZEMAN, Mont. â Emergency crews in Gallatin County have already began meeting and planning for the next fire season and are taking into account what they learned from the Bridger Foothills Fire.
Six months ago, a plume of smoke from a holdover lightning strike turned into an 8,000-plus blaze destroying 30 homes, one of which being the Vermillion family s home on Alpen Strasse Road.
The start of the fire just after 3 p.m. on Sept. 4 from a holdover lightning strike.Noah Schmick Wake Up Montana
âFriday I was coming back from Bozeman with my kids and made a stop because I saw a puff of smoke up on the M,â Jeff Vermillion said. âBy the time we were pulling out of here on our own accord with flames within 200 yards, the sheriffâs department was pulling up and the forest service was evacuating people.â
Heading into September, major wildfires in Montana had destroyed 13 structures.
That changed early in the month when high winds whipped a series of fires that burned 153 structures, including a combined 116 structures destroyed by the Bridger Foothills fire in Gallatin County and the Bobcat fire in Musselshell County.
At the same time, the Huff fire was pushed through Garfield County by winds that at one point gusted 50 mph, leading to the temporary evacuation of the town of Jordan.
The fire burned 24 structures and among the livestock losses were 200 sheep.
The 166 structures lost over the course of the 2020 wildfire season, many of them homes, is the most in Montana since 2012 when fires greater than 100 acres took 464 structures.
Justices OK Rock Creek mine water permit helenair.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from helenair.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Commission discusses Beaver Creek dam work
The Hill County Commission discussed grant receipt, resignations and new hires at its weekly business meeting Thursday. The commission passed a resolution to amend the budget for the Beaver Creek Dam to receive funds from a Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Renewable Resources Grant, which Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said will allow for the last of the dam’s immediately needed improvements. “This could be the last project to bring Beaver Creek Dam up to specs,” he said. He said projects on the dam have been going on for his entire tenure at the com.