Firefight! ...With Flaming Ping-Pong Balls

Helicopters dropped 16,000 flaming ping-pong balls and ignited a long swath along the Magruder Corridor Road to keep the Gold Pan fire from growing in the wilderness west of Darby.

The 16,412-acre fire reported no significant growth in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness except for the roughly 350 acres intentionally burned during the aerial operation.

“We’ll have a night shift patrolling tonight to make sure it stays south of the road,” fire information officer Dixie Dies said Wednesday. “They’re calling for dry lightning and significant winds on Thursday, so we’re going to give it a couple of days before we’re done with it.”

The Missoulian