Cleanup efforts along Spring Meadow Lake Park after September’s fire continue.

About 10 acres of the 56-acre park remain closed while hazards are removed. The three main projects on the checklist are replacing a footbridge, which was burned to the mud, extracting dead wood and removing metal debris that was exposed by the blaze, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Helena area park manager Craig Marr said.

About 3.5 tons of metal debris, including a car body, cables and barrels have already been removed and another few tons remain, Marr said. The metal items have been in the park for decades and were covered by vegetation.

The park is known as a stomping ground for walkers, bird watchers and bass and trout fishers. While many still fish the lake, Marr said, the closed section of the park has put a damper on the amount of people who stroll the trails.

Marr said he hopes to have the entire park reopened by spring, but that depends on getting contracts finalized and the work accomplished. Park workers are getting estimates on replacing the 100-foot bridge and some fencing in addition to removing most of the dead trees. A crew from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation came after the fire and cut some of the hazardous trees, he said.

The costs for some of the rehabilitation will be covered by state insurance, he said.

Some signs of re-growth are evident. Some green grass already pushes through the soot.

“It will revegetate itself, but we’ll help it out,” Marr said.

The plan is to get the grass reseeded before noxious weeds take over, he said. A few native trees will be planted as well to replace the cottonwoods and willows killed in the blaze.

The manager for the Montana Wildlife Center, which also was marred by the blaze, said she too is worried about weeds, which thrive after fires. While none of the center’s bears were injured in the blaze, much of its equipment was destroyed.

Manager Patti Sowka said the scorched implements still need to be replaced, as does a riding lawnmower.

Sowka said the center is pretty much over the “post-fire trauma” and now houses 23 bears, nearly double the number it had at the time of the blaze.

Marr said he hopes to install an educational sign at the site of the fire.

The Sept. 16 fire was ignited by a homemade cannon made by a high school student, who faces a felony charge of criminal endangerment from the incident. Five buildings were destroyed in the 44-acre fire and about 500 households were evacuated.

Reporter Angela Brandt: 447-4078 or angela.brandt@helenair.com