Closed by Intense Fire, Popular Montana State Park Has Reopened
While there are still flames and tinder-dry conditions in the area, a state park has reopened and some (not all) evacuation orders have been lifted.
That's good news for those who love to recreate, and especially for those who live on or near Lake Mary Ronan, 7 miles west of Flathead Lake. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced that as of this morning (Wednesday), they have reopened Lake Mary Ronan State Park. The Elmo 2 fire forced its closure last week. And while some evacuation orders were lifted, there are still certain restrictions and evacuation orders in place.
The good news/bad news scenario is that Montana FWP says evacuation orders were lifted for residents living along Lake Mary Ronan Road west of Dayton Creek Road. But the area remains under pre-evacuation warnings and is open to residents and guests only.
And the Camp Tuffit/West Shore Road remains under evacuation order and is closed to all traffic.
Montana FWP had high praise for the significant progress fire crews have made containing the Elmo 2 Fire in the past few days. They worked with a Northern Rockies Incident Management Team prior to making the decision to reopen Lake Mary Ronan State Park, resuming normal operations to include camping.
That being said, the Elmo 2 Fire is still burning in the area. And authorities can't emphasize enough that people need to use lots of caution because of the extremely dry conditions and high fire dangers, not only around Lake Mary Ronan, but in practically all of Montana.
You can get Montana wildfire updates and other important information here.
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