Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is asking people who float the rivers and camp in the woods around western Montana to keep safety in mind, especially this weekend.

Region One Program Manager Dillon Tabish first addresses those who will be taking to the rivers and lakes to stay cool.

“With this hot weather, it’s natural to want to cool off on a lake or river and we just really want to remind folks to be safe if they’re going to be on the water, and that primarily means wearing your life jacket.” said Tabish. “You really need to have that life jacket with you and kids need to have it on at all times, but we encourage everyone to have it on at all times.”

Recently a young man was killed after jumping off some cliffs on the Flathead River when he was swept downstream. Tabish urges those on the water to not jump off rocks or cliffs, or even bridges into the water.

It’s always going to be dangerous to some degree so I really strongly discourage folks from jumping off things such as rocks or cliffs. Jumping off bridges is illegal. It may seem like fun, but its more risk than reward.

“It’s really important for folks to know if they’re going to jump off something, it very likely could be illegal,” he said. “It’s always going to be dangerous to some degree so I really strongly discourage folks from jumping off things such as rocks or cliffs. Jumping off bridges is illegal. It may seem like fun, but its more risk than reward, so we just really discourage folks from taking that risk.”

Tabish then turned his attention to campers looking for a spot this weekend.

“Fire danger is increasing by the minute with these really high temperatures, so it’s just really important for folks to be aware of the fire danger in the area where they’re going to be,” he said. “Everything from making sure your campfire is dead out when you’re leaving it to making sure you’re not dragging chains. If you’re pulling a camper those chains can throw sparks around and that can commonly cause fires, so most fires are human caused and that means they can be prevented.”

The National Weather Service says high temperatures will be near 100 degrees through the weekend.

 

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