Montana News Roundup: Cool Summer = Big Shift in Fire Risk

There are still a few weeks of fire season left, but the lack of a heatwave and repeated strong storms have completely flipped the outlook for significant fires in Montana for the rest of the season.

Forecasters with the National Interagency Fire Center had been predicting a strong potential for "significant fire risk" covering most of the state by the end of the season. But the updated outlook, which dropped even before last week's heavy rains… tells a much different story.

Only the Idaho Panhandle and the southwest corner of Montana have an above-normal risk of big fires, generally extending from Missoula to Butte and Helena, across the Bitterroot to Dillon and the border. The rest of the state, including the Gallatin, North Central, and far eastern Montana, including the Wyoming border, only shows a "normal" risk now through September.

      Forecasters say the Northern Divide, including Glacier National Park and the Front have a "below normal" risk of significant fires.

Fire restrictions enacted in Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park managers are actually stepping up their fire warnings, taking the park to Stage 1 restrictions today, banning fires in the backcountry with the fire risk at "very high." 🔥

Amazing "walk away" survival from Kalispell plane crash

Bail set for Anaconda shooter

As expected, Anaconda shooting suspect Michael Brown makes his first court appearance Monday, with bail set at $2-million.

Brown's initial appearance came via remote video from the Butte Detention Center as required by law within the time required by law, following his apprehension in a week-long manhunt, following the murders of four people the week before.

MT Food Bank Network preparing to move

The Montana Food Bank Network is making final preparations for the new move into its new Missoula warehouse at the end of the summer, a move a lot more complicated than just bringing groceries home.

MFBN has to move hundreds of thousands of items, as well as shift future deliveries. But CEO Gayle Carlson says the network is equipped for the task.

"The fortunate side is we have a whole fleet of semis. So, you know, we've got that," Carlson explains. "So it's just going to be a lot of manpower. We've been sending out a lot of advanced notices, like, how do we downsize our files? Can we start scanning and be more digital? You know, those kinds of things, so that we don't have so much to move."

"I think the excitement is so high within the office that the energy is there and they can't wait for this to happen. - MFBN CEO Gayle Carlson

The new warehouse will give the Montana Food Bank Network critical new capacity to process food shipments for food banks and pantries across the state, critical as reductions are made in the SNAP program that can benefit from more efficiency.

It also means better opportunities for volunteers.

"The new warehouse is going to allow us a much greater level of volunteer opportunities, because there's more space," Carlson notes. "Right now, we're restricted on space and how many people in each group that we can have come in. We're also going to be adding some other volunteer projects, too, that we've not been able to do before because of our space constraints."

     The move is expected in the next few weeks.