Jeresek said northwest Montana is not under current fire restrictions, but he added, "It's dry out there and on more south facing aspects, the grass is curing quickly. It's only a matter of time before we have a large fire."
Despite very green vegetation, fire officials are reminding people that rapidly changing conditions have led them to increase the fire danger level to very high and Preparedness Level 3 on Thursday.
A few small wildfires cropped up in far Northwest Montana over the weekend, continuing an uptick in incidents over the last week as forest fuels begin to dry out.