Montana News Roundup: Hiker Injured Scaring Bear

Glacier National Park rangers say no action will be taken to locate a bear that injured a hiker on a trail this week, since the confrontation seems to be a case of the bear and hiker surprising one another on a trail with thick brush.

The 34-year-old woman was hiking with a companion near Lake Janet when the brown colored bear with two cubs charged out of the brush, swiping at her and injuring her shoulder and arm. Her companion quickly deployed spray, and the bear was gone within 30 seconds.

The pair connected with some hikers who had an InReach device, who were able to call for help. ALERT and park staff located her and transported her to Logan Health.

The park wasn't able to identify the bear and closed the Lake Janet Wilderness campground as a precaution.

Mission Valley crash victims were all local residents

Lake County Sheriff Don Bell says the four people killed in that crash between a car and an RV on Wednesday evening were all local residents.

The victims were all in the same car, which ran into an RV on Highway 93 on dangerous Post Creek Hill in the Mission Valley.

Bell identified the victims as 53-year-old Denise Burland, of Polson, 53-year-old Jo Lynn Leishman, of Pablo, 52-year-old Lanelle Fisher, of Ronan, and 42-year-old Kimberly R. Hewankorn, also from Polson. There were 10 people in the RV, but only a few suffered minor injuries. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.

One of the main reasons Missoula's runway will close next week

Managers at the Missoula Montana, Airport say next week's complete closure of the runway will help address an emerging problem. Airport Deputy Director Tim Damrow says that with heavier planes in recent years, pavement has been showing more wear.

"We're starting to see those surfaces take a little more abuse, a little bit more deterioration," Damro explains. "So working with our local FAA offices, they were able to help us secure funding to get this project completed a year in advance of what we were intending to. So it's a benefit there, just having that done and behind us."

"A new terminal, we'll have a new runway. It's going to be wheels up going forward." -Airport Deputy Director Tim Damrow

The FAA released funding a year ahead of schedule.

     ✈️ The runway closure starts Tuesday and lasts all of next week.

Big year continues at MSO

Missoula air traffic just hit a new milestone, with July service up 2%, setting a new monthly record of 70,800 passengers. That's 18 months in a row of increased traffic, and the 15th month in a row that emplanements set a record.

Weather is a big help on big fires

The cooler and wetter weather of the past couple of days has moderated the dangerous Windy Rock fire in Powell County, the only one with an active evacuation order for nearby residents out of Helmville.

The fire is slowly growing, over 3800 acres now, but the slower activity allowed teams to reach some areas that were previously inaccessible because of the fire.

Conditions have also helped with the big fires burning in Madison County. Montana DNRC reports firefighters now have 53% containment on the Bivens Creek Fire, and 20% on the Cloudrest Fire. Combined, those lightning-caused fires in the Tobacco Roots have burned 5600 acres.

     And DNRC reporting there's now 47% containment on the Knowles Creek fire, which had slowed to 3822 acres near Paradise in Sanders County.

Fire funding released

Governor Gianforte announced yesterday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will release funds to help the state with the cost of fighting the Windy Rock Fire, with funding up to 75% of the cost of materials and supplies, equipment use, and money for fire camps.