The dense smoke staining the Missoula Valley the past few days is not from fires in Montana, but in Washington State.

Meteorologist Stephanie Henry said on Sunday, that the Wolverine Creek fire burning just east of Seattle is the source of most of the smoke in western Montana.

"We're getting a lot of smoke in the upper atmosphere from the Wolverine Creek fire, which is located just on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains," Henry said. "The last report we had was that the fire was over 6,000 acres but could be a little bit more than that today. It started by lightning on July 29th, and has been putting out a lot of smoke over eastern Washington, Idaho and western Montana."

"The fire has just been putting out a great deal of smoke and the upper atmosphere is just blowing that smoke into our area with the weather pattern that's currently overhead," she said.

Fire officials are also battling a small wildfire near Rock Creek that has burned about five acres near Beavertail Hill just off Interstate 90.

 

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