Wildfires spur more Montana evacuations

Thunderstorms bring little rain, but lots of lightning

Firefighters continue to battle blazes in the Bitterroot National Forest on Thursday

In this story: Less smoke could mean more fires 'We could lose our whole valley' Fires elsewhere in West Crews from other countries help out RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

MISSOULA, Montana (CNN) -- There were more wildfire evacuations Friday in southwestern Montana, where disappointing overnight thunderstorms brought only a trace of rain but plenty of lightning that started new blazes.

VIDEO One fire in Montana threatens 500 homes, as Correspondent Virginia Kerr shows (August 10) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN Correspondent Don Knapp visits some of the land that has been spared -- and much that has been lost -- in Montana fires (August 9) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN Correspondent Charles Zewe reports from Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado where wildfires have brought an unexpected benefit (August 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Correspondent Kiet Do goes with a Navajo ground crew fighting the fires (August 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN Medical Correspondent Holly Firfer reports on the health dangers from exposure to smoke from wildfires (August 6) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     GALLERY Click here for images of the wildfires    WEATHER FORECASTS Montana   • Helena   • Missoula   • Butte   • Hamilton     AUDIO Listen to residents of Pinesdale, Montana     RESOURCES Click here to view the National Interagency Fire Center's map of large wildland fires Click here to view satellite images of the wildfires (NOAA Web site)     MESSAGE BOARD Nature's wrath

A fire moving closer to the Bitterroot Valley town of Darby prompted the latest evacuations, along a nine-mile stretch of road in Ravalli County. The fire was four miles from Darby, population 940.

In recent days, nearly 1,000 people in the region have left their homes, and authorities say more than 50 residences have been destroyed.

Two fires burning near Boulder, south of the state capital in Helena, were slowed by high humidity and rain after one of the blazes knocked out two major power lines that deliver electricity to the Northwest.

One of the 500-kilovolt lines was back in service Friday after an electronic system designed to detect problems such as excessive heat gave it a go-ahead.

The Bonneville Power Administration, which owns the lines, reported no electricity shortages tied to interruption of the lines, which move power from big generating plants at Colstrip in southeastern Montana.

A second regional distribution line is still down. Bonneville estimates it would be at least two days before it is back in service.

Montana is among 10 Western states where 60 large wildfires are burning out of control, the federal government's National Interagency Fire Center reported Friday from Boise, Idaho.

It also lists fires in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Large wildfires in Oregon and Texas were classified as contained.

Despite Friday's drop in the total number of large fires in the West -- down from 65 on Thursday -- the amount of land ablaze increased, an indication of the massive work still ahead for firefighters.

"Thousands of lightning strikes hit the Northwest (Thursday) as dry thunderstorms moved through the area," the fire center reported on its Web site. "Fire managers are expected to be busy (Friday) trying to catch as many new fires as possible while they are still small."

The overnight storms helped diminish a blanket of smoke covering southwestern Montana, and that could be troublesome. The thick smoke had been something of a benefit, choking off oxygen that fires need to keep burning.

In short, less smoke could mean more fires. It would have the effect of "opening a damper on a stove," which could cause a dramatic increase in fires, said Bob Sandman, acting incident commander for the Bitterroot Valley fires.

Like her evacuated neighbors, Bitterroot Valley resident Joan Perry can only watch and wait to see what nature will do -- and how much damage firefighters can prevent. "We could lose our whole valley. We don't know. I don't want to go there with my thinking. We can only do one day at a time," she told CNN.

Fire manager Dave Larsen said conditions in the area are so extreme that flames 6 inches to 8 inches high were seen on moss-covered rocks this week.

Elsewhere in Montana, a wildfire 40 miles east of Missoula was threatening Garnet, a ghost town that attracts about 20,000 visitors a year. And a blaze near Wisdom that prompted the evacuation of the Big Hole National Battlefield led authorities to recommended evacuating about 30 homes.

On Thursday, smoke closed a portion of Interstate 84 in Oregon's Columbia Gorge, and in Washington, six lightning-sparked fires merged into two bigger blazes in Klickitat County early Friday morning.

The two fires combined were burning about 8,000 acres and threatening up to 35 structures.

"We're just facing a whole combination of tough circumstances with the dry vegetation and the summer thunderstorms," said Rob Harper at Washington state's Emergency Operations Center.

In southwestern Oklahoma, forestry officials scrambled to get air support and firefighters to King Mountain in Kiowa County after lightning from a thunderstorm apparently ignited dry brush.

In southwestern Colorado, firefighters took advantage of high humidity and rain that calmed a 5,000-acre fire at Mesa Verde National Park, raising hopes that visitors may be able to visit portions of the park as early as next week.

The park was shut down last month after another fire burned 23,000 acres. Mesa Verde reopened August 4 but was closed again several hours later when the new fire burned into the park.

In northwest Wyoming, there was good news outside Jackson, where more than 200 people were forced out of their homes by a fire early last week. Bob Luntsford, a Forest Service spokesman, said the fire was burning into an old burn area where it would be easier to fight.

Some of the evacuees were allowed to visit their homes and cabins, but "we're not allowing anybody to stay," Luntsford said.

Montana's Department of Environmental Quality has prohibited open burning, adding to a ban on public use of state lands. The federal government's Bureau of Land Management also extended use restrictions statewide on its lands.

As of Friday, the public is barred from western Montana forests comprising an area a bit larger than New Hampshire. Plum Creek Timber Co. also closed its vast Montana timberlands to public use.

Crews from Canada, New Zealand and Australia were en route to the Bitterroot fires, along with special firefighting crews from California.

Montana Gov. Marc Racicot has called up additional National Guard troops. And a battalion (about 500 soldiers) from the Army's Fort Hood in Texas is being mobilized for duty in Montana, the fire center said.

So far this year, U.S. wildfires have consumed more than 4.4 million acres (6,875 square miles), an area greater in size than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.

CNN Correspondent Don Knapp and The Associated Press contributed to this report, written by Jim Morris

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