“This is the situation we prayed wouldn't happen,” said a somber Schweitzer, who was somewhat unsettled by the fire burning so near Seeley and Placid lakes.
The governor talked with firefighters on the ground at Seeley, visited with folks at the Bonner evacuation center and listened as fire officials gave updates on the 15,000-acre wildfire's activity and weather predictions for the remainder of the week.
Tuesday's was the governor's second aerial trip over the Jocko Lakes fire. The first came as the wildfire blew up Saturday afternoon and took an eight-mile run, prompting the evacuation of more than 600 homes and summer cabins.
Winds have remained calm the past several days, allowing firefighters to dig line at the head of the blaze, where flames have reached to within a mile of Seeley Lake.
Schweitzer was encouraged to see several structures that he had thought were goners Saturday still standing Tuesday because of solid efforts by firefighters and the use of fire-slowing slurry.
But everyone, including Schweitzer, was braced for predicted 25-mph winds. Human efforts will have little to do with the outcome of the Jocko Lakes fire if Mother Nature has anything to say about it, he said.
“We prepare for the worst and pray for the best,” he said.
Schweitzer, a Democrat, was one of the keynote speakers at the state Democratic Convention on Saturday, but canceled his speech to fly over the fire. He said he's been following Montana's fire season closely, and needed to actually see the fire and gather information in order to make sure firefighters got the resources they needed.
Earlier this year, Schweitzer proposed spending $50 million to cover both upfront firefighting costs and native-plant restoration in fire-ravaged areas. The 2007 Legislature allocated
$13 million to cover costs associated with fighting forest fires; just $4 million of that remains.
“For the first time in 50 years, we were honest. We think the money should be in the budget,” he said. “It is frustrating when Š common sense tells you fires happen every year and they (members of the Legislature) say no.”
Typically, firefighting expenses are paid with reimbursements after the money has been borrowed from other budgets.
Republicans used Montana's active fire season this week to launch an attack on Schweitzer for killing a Democrat-sponsored bill that would have given tax credits to volunteer firefighters, while signing off on legislation that gave tax breaks to Hollywood producers.
The Internet ads started running Monday.
On Tuesday, Schweitzer called that argument “silly on its face.”
“I had 19 bills on my desk I vetoed because if you don't have a checkbook, you don't write checks,” said Schweitzer, pointing to the Legislature's inability to pass a state budget before the end of the regular session.
Besides, he said, half of the Republican legislators voted against the bill.
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