LOLO – The memory of a California firefighter who lost his life during Western Montana’s historic 2017 wildfire season is being marked in Lolo.
Firefighter Brent Witham was killed by a falling tree while fighting the Lolo Peak Fire, which scorched thousands of acres and forced hundreds of evacuations in the Lolo and Florence areas.
Dignitaries, friends and family gathered Thursday morning in the Lolo Creek Steakhouse parking lot to unveil a marker designating a section of U.S. Highway 12 in Lolo in Witham’s honor.
Among those on hand for the event was Montana State Sen. Diane Sands, former U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth and others.
Meanwhile, the young Missoula firefighter who was killed at the outset of the 2017 fire season — Trenton Johnson, 19, of Missoula — will be remembered Friday.
State and community officials will name a section of Montana Highway 83 in his honor. That ceremony will start at 10 a.m. Friday next to Lindy’s Prime Steakhouse in Seeley Lake.
