MOOSE HELPS THE COMMUNITY

Moose Fire Camp, Columbia Falls, Mont. - Firefighters head out every day with a heavy workload. National directives require them to receive large lunches to sustain them. At the end of every shift, non-perishable items left from the day are deposited in recycling boxes. Jenny Beal of the Moose Fire camp then collects those items and distributes them to local food banks and charitable organizations. To date, her operation has provided over 7,000 pounds of food to the local communities.

The large lunches provide the firefighters with a high calorie diet required for the heavy workload they maintain day after day. This hard work has paid off in suppressing the fire. Only 280 personnel remain assigned to the fire and this downward trend will continue over the next couple of days. Chuck Stanich's fire team anticipates completing it's assignment by Friday afternoon and will transition the fire back to the respective agencies at that time.

At present, firewood cutting is prohibited in the Moose fire area. This is to allow for future salvage of burned timber. If you have questions, you may direct them to the Flathead National Forest, either the Hungry Horse Ranger District (387-3800) or Supervisor's Office (758-5200).

For more information call the Fire Information Center at 892-8970 or 892-9053. Up-to-date information, current fire perimeter maps and photos are available on the Moose Fire web site at its new location: www.nps.gov/glac/resources/fires_2001/fires.htm.

[NOTE TO EDITORS: This is the last news release from the Moose Incident. Any future releases will be distributed by the individual agencies: Flathead National Forest, Glacier National Park, and Montana DNRC.]