PHOTOS: In the shadow of Lolo Peak’s fire-scarred mountainsides, a section of Highway 12 will forever honor the memory of a California man who died in the wildfires of 2017.
On Thursday, more than a hundred Lolo residents, firefighters and family members gathered outside the Lolo Creek Steakhouse to remember Vista Grande Hotshot crewmember Brent Witham and dedicate a 12-mile section of Highway 12 west of Lolo in his name.
It was almost exactly two years ago that lightning sparked a fire that eventually spread to almost 54,000 acres and filled the skies above Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley with smoke for days.
The summer of 2017 had turned hot and dry. After originally burning to the west into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, the fire started to turn after winds shifted, causing spot fires to multiply in late July. In anticipation of a week of searing heat, Lolo homeowners were warned to be prepared to evacuate, and hot shot crews were brought in.