Montana News Roundup: Get Ready for a LOT of Rain

UPDATE: Firefighter dies working Madison County blaze

Authorities say a firefighter who died Sunday while battling the Bivens Creek Fire in Madison County suffered cardiac arrest while he was on the fire lines.

Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 6 Incident Commander Rich Cowger says the victim was part of a ground team when he was hit with symptoms, and a line crew paramedic rendered "rapid medical assistance", but he could be resuscitated.

      It's the first firefighter death in the Northern Rockies this season.

Major rainfall in Montana forecast

While we're starting this last week in August hot and dry, National Weather Service forecasters say the return of the Southwest Monsoon this week will bring a dramatic shift to Montana's weather, with the potential for heavy rains, flash flooding, and temperatures falling by nearly 20 degrees by mid-week.

Forecasts for the past few days have been telegraphing the change, with the amount of "available atmospheric moisture" climbing to as much as 200% by Wednesday.

National Weather Service meteorologist and hydrologist LeeAnn Allegretto says the forecast is based on a very moist, southwesterly flow.

"With that, the thunderstorm potential increases from south to north as those thunderstorms meander northward, and that's Tuesday through Thursday," Allegeretto says. "And with the anomalously high amount of atmospheric moisture present during this time, we will also have a high threat for heavy rain potential, and that will increase dramatically through the week as well.

While there's only "marginal instability", and that should limit the potential for the formation of thunderstorm "super cells", Allegretto says there's also not much to move the storms through quickly, leading to the potential for heavy downpours that could lead to flash flooding, especially on fire "burn scars", especially Wednesday and Thursday.

Hundreds are fighting the dangerous Windy Rock Fire

More than 500 firefighters worked hard through the weekend trying to get some advantage against the Windy Rock Fire, which has burned more than 2700 acres, forcing the Powell County Sheriff to order evacuations for adjacent homes and ranches south of Helmville.

Montana Red Cross volunteers have opened an evacuation shelter with the Assembly of God Church in Deer Lodge, Montana.

Fire crews were hitting the blaze with repeated retardant drops from VLATs, or Very Large Air Tankers, and building a hand line to keep the fire from spreading more on private property where there's been additional structure protection underway.

     The good news is, crews were able to get complete containment on the 372-acre Devil Mountain fire nearby.

New Montana fire starts drop on Sunday

There were actually fewer fire starts on Sunday, with Montana DNRC reporting 10 new fires. Crews now have 75% containment on the 6100 acre Mission Butte Fire, the largest in the state, burning southwest of Crow Agency. The Knowles Fire, burning in Sanders County, now has 6% containment at just under 3600 acres. And mop-up continues on the 3500-acre McAllister Fire, now 65 percent contained near Norris.

     The Madison County Sheriff issued an evacuation warning for some residents along the western side of the Tobacco Root range because of the threat from the Cloudrest and Bivens Creek fires.

Great views, but no water

Too many thirsty tourists are causing water problems this summer at Logan Pass. And the problem has gotten so bad this month that Glacier National Park managers are warning they'll have to close the regular restrooms from time to time to conserve water.

Usually, the system at Logan Pass uses about 5000-to-6000 gallons of water a day, and the basin where water is collected can keep up with a combination of melting snow and then summer rains. But this year, the pass is using an average of 8000 gallons of water a day.

So the park says the plumbed bathrooms may be closed intermittently the rest of the season, between 5:30 pm to 8:30 am. The vault toilet building and multiple portable toilets will be open for visitor use. The water filling station will remain open for now, as will the water re-filling station.

     The park usually shuts off water at Logan Pass in mid-September, but this year, it will turn off the spigot on September 7th.