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BLM Provides Montana Fire Updates Through Social Media

Keeping Montanans up to date on all the fires burning in the state is a challenge in this unprecedented fire season.  

The Bureau of Land Management office for Montana and the Dakotas has been meeting that challenge since September 1, 2017 using social media.

BLM spokesman Al Nash says they needed a new way to get the fire information out so they turned to Facebook. 

“We felt that there was a void in social media of one stop shop of information covering the current fire activity across Montana,” Nash says.

The face of the Montana Fire Update on Facebook and BLM’s You Tube Channel has been Chris Barth, a member of the public information staff in the Billings office. The video is about four-minutes long and posted each day around 4:00 p.m.

Credit Photo by Kay Erickson
Al Nash working on the Montana Fire Update

Nash puts  these updates together using fire and weather reports to get a sense of conditions for that day. He pulls details on the most active fires, and looks for information helpful for those affected.

“A few days ago when we knew there was going to be significant fire activity  that could prompt some big growth  on some of the fires and may increase the potential for evacuations we interviewed the folks with the Red Cross to talk about a preparedness kit,” says Nash.

Montana is currently at Preparedness Level Five, the highest level for possible wildfires,  but that could change with the change in the weather.

“I anticipate we we’ll do daily updates as long as Montana and the northern Rockies are in Preparedness Level 5. Perhaps even daily updates into Preparedness Level 4," says Nash. 

He expects the frequency to drop off as the season winds down.

Kay Erickson has been working in broadcasting in Billings for more than 20 years. She spent well over a decade as news assignment editor at KTVQ-TV before joining the staff at YPR. She is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, with a degree in broadcast journalism. Shortly after graduation she worked in Great Falls where she was one of the first female sports anchor and reporter in Montana.