Wet weather this weekend may dampen Western wildfires

Rain sprinkled some areas Wednesday

Some rain fell on Wednesday in Montana and Wyoming. In Montana, a steady drizzle developed in late morning at Red Lodge, where a 2,500-acre fire four miles outside the town kept some 50 families out of their homes.

"A couple of days of this and we'd just about have her surrounded," said Jeff Gildehaus, a fire information officer.

Isolated showers sprinkled northwestern and central Montana, but the most measured was .03 inch at Kalispell.

Light drizzle also helped firefighters attack a new fire north of Helena that forced five families out of their homes near Wolf Creek overnight. The evacuation order was lifted Wednesday afternoon, and managers said they expected to have the 450-acre fire contained soon.

In Wyoming, rain fell on the state's largest fire, a 14,750-acre (23 square miles) blaze north of Kemmerer. "It was a good ol' heavy rain shower," said Dave Schmidt, a meteorologist assigned to the fire.

While the weather forecast brings hope to weary firefighters and beleaguered homeowners in Montana and Wyoming, dry conditions and significant wildfire activity remain a cause for concern in states further south, especially in Texas. There has been no rainfall in the Dallas area for the past 60 days, the NIFC reported on its Web site.

The NIFC also encouraged travelers planning trips for the Labor Day weekend to check the status of restrictions on public lands. "Many areas throughout the West are very dry and extra precaution with campfires and off-road travel is critical," the agency said on its Web site.

Disaster declared in Montana

On Wednesday, President Clinton issued a federal disaster declaration for 28 counties and two Indian reservations in central and western Montana where fires have raged since mid-July. And Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne asked for a disaster declaration for his state, where blazes rage on 717,360 acres.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Lee Witt announced the disaster declaration for Montana, saying it would include grants to help pay for temporary housing, minor home repairs and other serious disaster-related expenses. Witt said federal funds would also be provided to the state for approved projects that reduce future disaster risks.

Rick Weiland, FEMA's regional director, said the agency will have an official in Helena, Montana by Wednesday night to begin coordinating the process of accepting and processing applications for federal aid.

Weiland said the financial losses in the state warranted the disaster declaration. "The economic injury is just so substantial," he said. "This is such an enormous problem here. I don't think many of us have seen anything like this."

More than $6.1 million in FEMA fire-fighting grants has already been approved to cover the state's costs in trying to battle wildfires that have burned more than 6 million drought-stricken acres this year.

Nationally, there are 85 fires spread out in 16 states, the NIFC reported Wednesday. Altogether those fires have burned 1,642,579 acres (2,566 square miles).

Montana alone has 30 large fires. In addition to these, the NIFC listed blazes in: California (2), Colorado (1), Florida (2), Idaho (25), Louisiana (1), Mississippi (1), Nevada (4), New Mexico (1), North Dakota (1), Oregon (4), South Dakota (1), Texas (5), Utah (1), Washington (1) and Wyoming (5).

So far this year, 73,357 wildfires have burned 6,359,395 acres (9,936 square miles), the fire center said Wednesday. By comparison, the state of Vermont is 9,249 square miles; and the land area of Maryland is 9,774 square miles.