Forest Service seeks fires’ cause

The U.S. Forest Service is seeking information from anyone who might have been driving on Interstate 90 between Missoula and St. Regis, Mont., on Thursday afternoon, when several fires started along the highway.

The agency is seeking information from anyone who was driving on the road between 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. that day, said Sharon Sweeney, Forest Service spokeswoman.

Anyone who saw anything suspicious is asked to call Forest Service law enforcement at (406) 363-7108, (406) 363-7124 or (406) 494-0218.

The fires closed the interstate for a time and had burned 3,300 acres by Saturday.

The Montana Department of Transportation reopened Interstate 90 westbound on Saturday afternoon, but travelers were told to expect one-lane traffic between Alberton, Mont., and Tarkio, Mont., because fire crews are working in the area.

Travelers along I-90 between Missoula and St. Regis should expect restricted speeds, smoke, firefighting equipment and possibly wildlife on the roadway, said Charity Watt Levis, a spokeswoman for the department.

Names of plane crash victims released

Investigators have released the names of the men who died Friday morning in a plane crash near Coolin, Idaho.

The pilot and owner of the plane was Matthew Giles, 32, of Vernonia, Ore., Bonner County Sheriff’s Capt. Jim Drake said in a press release. The passenger was Gary Harkims, 39, of Columbia City, Ore.

The men departed from Scappoose, Ore., earlier in the morning and were scheduled to arrive at the Cavanaugh Bay Airport, an Idaho Department of Lands airstrip on the southeastern side of Priest Lake. They were planning to meet one of the men’s family members who were vacationing in the area, Drake said in an interview Friday afternoon.

The plane crashed about 100 yards from the southern end of the airstrip, Drake said in the press release.

The cause is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.