The Forest Service rushed to the rescue in backcountry hills west of Montana City last week.
Southwest Montana rarely faces greater fire risk than in early fall following a dry summer, which means the Forest Service workers conducting a prescribed burn along Travis Creek on Sept. 24 were little surprised when informed of an emerging nearby wildfire.
Nearly 40 of the 55 FS staffers at Travis Creek hustled a mile eastward to put out the new fire along Newton Road, which “would have threatened several homes in the area if not for the quick response from adjacent prescribed burn resources that quickly mitigated the threat,” Forest Service Public Affairs Officer Chiara Cipriano told The Monitor.
