Fire threatens Montana town

SEELEY LAKE, Mont. – Some 1,500 homes remained threatened Tuesday by a large wildfire burning in northwestern Montana, as fire crews did what they could to keep the blaze away from this popular tourist town amid warm and breezy conditions.

The fire has burned about 15,000 acres, or more than 23 square miles, since it started Friday about 50 miles northeast of Missoula. It was 10 percent contained Tuesday night.

Firefighters were concerned increased winds could force the flames toward Seeley Lake, a town with some 5,000 residents in the summer.

“We are prepared for the worst, and people should pray for the best,” said Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who arrived Tuesday at the fire lines for a briefing. It was his second visit to the Jocko Lakes fire.

Schweitzer went on a helicopter ride Tuesday with a reporter and photographer. From the air, it initially looked like a series of small campfires lapping at trees, but then a big swath of blackened forest came into view, including the rubble of one home destroyed in the blaze.

Fire officials said another home, a commercial building and seven outbuildings also were damaged.

The fire was about 2 miles from town, said Tom Kempton, a fire information officer. Residents remained in Seeley Lake, but hundreds of outlying homes had been evacuated.

Although wind gusts were between 20 and 22 mph, the fire didn’t make a run toward homes as of early Tuesday evening.

“We’re still holding on to what we got,” said Doug Downs with the fire management team.

Firefighters planned to attack the blaze overnight, removing brush and working to keep the fire from moving toward a power substation. Tuesday will be the first night enough firefighters are on scene to staff through the night, fire information officer Pat Cross said.

Fire commander Glen McNitt said the area usually doesn’t see substantial rainfall until mid-September, adding it was conceivable the fire could last until then.

“This country will burn, and it will burn fast and furious,” he said.

Meanwhile, a fireworks-caused fire just south of Billings prompted an evacuation order affecting more than 240 homes Tuesday, fire officials said.

The 125- to 150-acre fire was reported at about 4 p.m. and was burning in grass, brush and trees just outside the Briarwood subdivision.

The evacuation order was lifted about 9:45 p.m. The affected area included all homes 2 miles east of Comyn Coulee and 1 mile south of Briarwood, and all homes within a quarter-mile of the 3100 block of Comyn Coulee.

The fire was started by a 12-year-old boy who was playing with fireworks on property on Hollow Tree Road, Billings Fire Marshal Frank Odermann told the Billings Gazette newspaper.

When flames broke out, the boy called 911, Odermann said.