The Bear Springs Fire (approximately 15 acres in size) in our fire district is located north of Gunsight Pass in the Upper Lost Prairie area on the west side of the ridge. It was started by a lightning strike. According to Chief Mast, crews worked overnight and there are many resources fighting the fire to include Canadian “Super Scoopers” and a DNRC helicopter. No structures are threatened at this time. Chief Mast requests that the public avoid driving in the area near the fire.

Updates are posted whenever the Chief has time to do so to the department’s Facebook page. Please, be patient between updates. Beyond our reporting, you can also check on local fires (there are quite a few in the nearby Kootenai National Forest) with InciWeb—an interagency government system run by the U.S. Forest Service. However, it often takes a while after a fire start for information to post to that site. Also, the site is down often lately, possibly because of heavy user demand. Another resource is the Northern Rockies Coordination Center website.