Lolo Peak firefighters are pressing forward with plans to try and "starve" the big blaze to halt its advance, but they're very worried about Red Flag fire conditions with hot, dry weather and strong winds as we start the weekend.
"This fire is behaving as we would expect. We've been very successful, fortunately, to be able to predict where it's going and what's going to happen throughout the fire area," said fire behavior analyst Stewart Turner.
The fire is pressing down off the Bitterroot Front south of Lolo -- something fire managers were expecting to happen at some point. They told several hundred people Thursday evening that's primarily because of the area's geography, with deep, east facing drainages and the common west-northwest winds.