In far Northwest Montana, about 85 homes remain evacuated due to the Napoleon fire. It’s part of what’s now being called the Clark Fork Complex of six fires straddling the Montana - Idaho border. Fire Information Officer Glenda Scott says crews are working to keep the nine square mile Napoleon fire contained within the Kootenai National Forest.
Burning to the North and West of the Napolean Fire is the Sawtooth fire, which covers about three and a half square miles. Scott says the priority on that fire is keeping it from burning to the east, where it could cross into the Ross Creek Cedars Scenic area, just a couple of miles away.
Firefighters are reporting success on the Scotchman Gulch Fire near Phillipsburg.
The thick blanket of wildfire smoke over western Montana is a proving a blessing and a curse for firefighters in the state. The hazy conditions can rob fires of the oxygen they need to grow, but at the same time prevent aircraft from being able to drop water and fire retardant.
The state Department of Revenue is reminding owners of property or forestland damaged by wildfire or other natural disasters that they may be eligible for property tax relief. Businesses whose equipment is damaged are also eligible to apply.
Butte activists have succeeded in their efforts to get a name-change for a polluted stream in Butte that's gone by the name of "Metro Storm Drain" for years. The Montana Standard reports that the Silver Bow Creek Headwaters Coalition earned a victory against the state of Montana Friday after a judge ruled that the channel should be called by its former name "Silver Bow Creek".
Nevada has reached a $1.2 million settlement with a test-maker blamed for the widespread technical problems last spring. Those problems left most of the state's students unable to finish the required Common Core aligned tests.