Fire Activity: The Red Shale Fire was detected by the Beartop Lookout at 4:30 p.m. on July 18 as a small amount of white smoke rising from an area where lightning strikes had been observed the night before. The fire is burning in Red Shale Creek in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Fire activity is observed predominantly in the Red Shale Creek drainage and west of the North Fork Sun River. Gates Park airstrip is near the eastern perimeter. District fire managers flew with infrared capability on the evening of July 26th. Due to better mapping from this flight, the size is now at 4,958 acres. The fire is clearing much of the 2-to-3 foot high downfall and opening up the thick regrowth of lodgepole pine saplings that has blanketed the area following the 1988 Gates Park Fire. A Red Flag Warning was in effect today due to gusty westerly winds and low relative humidities. These weather conditions resulted in earlier lifting of the inversion this morning, contributing to more visible smoke this...
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