The most recognizable landmark in Missoula caught fire last evening around 7pm. The grasses and brush covering the face of Mount Sentinel were perfect tinder, and the fire spread and sprawled across the mountainside as the evening wore on.
The flames and smoke made for a spectacular show - it was mesmerizing to watch. All over town residents could be seen sitting on cars or in lawn chairs, cameras and cell phones trained on the slowly advancing blaze.
By this afternoon it looked as though they had the fire mostly contained, a pair of helicopters dousing the last of the hot spots with water dipped from the nearby Clark Fork river. The fire spread over nearly 400 acres of grassland on the western slope of the mountain.
The mountain will retain its' charred face for the next couple of years; perhaps it will serve to remind us how close we live to the land, and how important it is to tread lightly as we go.
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