Region moves to Stage II

The entire northwest region of the state will move to stage II fire restrictions on Saturday. This includes Sanders County.

Bill Naegeli with the Officer of Emergency Management said the restrictions go into effect at 12:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Under Stage II restrictions, the following is

prohibited:

* Building maintaining, attending, or using a fire or campfire.

* Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable materials.

* The following acts are prohibited from 1:00 pm to 1:00 am:

* Operating any internal combustion engine.

* Welding, or operating acetylene or other torch with an open flame.

* Using an explosive.

* Operating motorized vehicles off designated roads and trails.

Lake County and the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes already went to Stage II this week. The Northwest fire restriction

zone includes Glacier National Park, Flathead, Lake, Sanders and Lincoln counties, the Flathead National Forest and the Kootenai

National Forest.

Sanders County Commissioners signed a resolution this week enforcing Stage II restrictions.

Several fires in an around Sanders County were sparked by a thunderstorm that moved through the eastern part of the county early Sunday morning. The CSKT Division of Fire on Tuesday said a Complex Incident Management Team was arriving to take

command of multiple fires, bringing more support staff for the increased number of fire resources arriving.

The Niarada fire forced the closure of a portion of Highway 28 from Niarada to Elmo on Sunday and Monday and was estimated to be over 5,000 acres as of Tuesday. The Mill Pocket fire was burning west of Niarada and had grown to 600 acres on Tuesday. The fire was moving east.

The Communication Butte fire north of Dixon had burned approximately 1,500 acres and the Big Knife fire near Arlee was nearly 2,000 acres as of Tuesday.

For the latest information on fire restrictions, visit https://www.mtfireinfo.org. For information on area fires, visit http://www.scledger. net or http://www.inciweb.org.