Fire season rages into autumn in the Northwest

Big Sky’s John Hannahs thankful for firefighters, neighbors in saving family ranch from Wyoming blaze

By Mario Carr EBS CONTRIBUTOR

Despite the calendar year showing us well into October, there are currently 36 active wildfires in Montana, as well as neighboring states, filling valleys with thick smoke and compromising the air quality. The most recent fire near Big Sky is just north of the Montana-Idaho border near Henry’s Lake.

Over 159,000 acres have burned in Montana in 2024 and as southwesterly winds continue to bring smoke from fires in Idaho and Wyoming, and temperatures stay high and dry, the fire season persists. Weather forecasted for the Northwest shows at least another week of bluebird skies, which means a continued risk of fire for the foreseeable future with the only hope for the end being the arrival of winter. 

On the topic of this very active fire season, Dan Sheil, battalion chief with the Big Sky Fire Department, reminded EBS that we are currently under a level 5 National Preparedness level. And locally, Sheil emphasized that it is still “really really dry around here,” and as a result open burning is currently restricted in Big Sky. As temperatures at night have begun to drop, Sheil explained that frosting only further aids in drying out the fuels around us, and that it is going to remain dry until we see rain replaced with snow through the winter.

“It’s been a really dry summer going into the fall here… and we don’t see a lot of precipitation coming… So we’re far from over as far as a season-ending event,” Sheil said.

With a couple of snowfalls in early September that have long since come and gone, it’s not until the mountains remain white-capped that this year’s fire season will officially come to an end. 

The smoke in the air in Big Sky is a reminder that some of these fires are hitting close to home. The Elk Fire in Wyoming has affected several Big Sky families, one being the family of John Hannahs, Lone Peak High School’s athletic director. Hannahs explained that his family’s home narrowly escaped the fire, along with the livestock and the structures on the ranch that his parents manage.

“It was probably a hundred yards from our house when it finally got contained and put out,” Hannahs said.

Hannahs said that he and his family were very thankful for the local fire crews that were able to defend their structures from the blaze. The majority of the ranchland that was hit was pasture land, and Hannahs is confident that it will bounce  back, but that’s not to say that significant damage wasn’t done.

“It’ll just be a whole lot of fencing to put back up this summer,” Hannahs said.

Hannahs said he and his family are very thankful for the many people that were ready to help them “at the drop of a hat.” Not only were their neighbors at the ranch pivotal in holding that fire line, Hannahs expressed that the Big Sky community has also rallied around his family in support.

“It has definitely given me a greater perspective on being prepared for something like that… And that force of mother nature is really quite something to behold,” Hannahs said.

BSFD Deputy Chief Seth Barker is thankful for a summer with no wildland fires in Big Sky, and that a vehicle fire in Taylor Fork was quickly contained. As we wait for snow, Barker urges residents to always remember the importance of creating defensible spaces around their homes. Such measures can include trimming down any tall grass within 30 feet of your structures, limbing trees as high as you can reach, and creating three feet of noncombustible space around your home.

“If you have any questions about defensible space, feel free to reach out to the Big Sky Fire Department, and stay safe out there,” Barker said.