In the ironies of ironies, a small bear started a wildfire on Smokey Bear’s 76th birthday Sunday.

That young bear, who obviously did not heed Smokey’s fire prevention message, climbed a power poll outside of Ravalli and was promptly electrocuted, which at the very least put an end to his fire-starting ways, although it unfortunately did cost him his young life. The barbequed bear’s body then fell to the ground and started a small grass fire.

Fortunately, the CSKT Division of Fire, aided by rural firefighting forces, was there to quickly quell the fire’s flames, holding the blaze to less than a quarter-acre. A helicopter with a bucket for water drops, along with several fire engines, helped make quick work of the fire.

The fire was visible from Highway 93, just north of the junction with Highway 200.

Although Smokey’s wildfire-starting cousin was the interesting fire news in the area this past week, the really big news is the fact that the CSKT Division of Fire, headquartered out of Ronan, continued to make substantial progress on the 3,539-acre Magpie Rock fire, which was listed at 75% containment Monday.

Fire officials said that there are still about 100 people working on the fire, down from the over 300 who were assigned at the peak of activity early last week.

The Magpie Rock fire is eight miles west of Dixon and south of Highway 200. Portions of the fire’s interior will likely be burning for the next few weeks and smokey conditions will possibly develop at times in the fire area.

Sanders County has had a relatively quiet fire season for mot of the summer but local fire prevention personnel have noted an alarming uptick in the number of abandoned campfires found so far.

Fire danger is currently rated at ‘High’ in western Montana.