Winds blow up Seepay 2 wildfire

Winds blew the Seepay 2 fire in northwestern Montana to the top of the fire-fighting list, becoming the region’s most difficult fire as it expanded to 3,300 acres and burned completely uncontrolled, fire officials said late Tuesday.

Heavy smoke prompted one-way traffic along Montana 200 at times during the evening, and Tuesday’s wind-driven run prompted alerts to area residents about possible evacuation later, said information officer Wayne Johnson.

The fire is about 15 miles east of Plains in the Flathead River drainage on the edge of the Flathead Indian Reservation.

The fire is completely uncontrolled and Johnson said only minimal control was expected today with forecasts calling for more wind.

“The cooler temperatures didn’t help because of such strong winds,” he said.

The human-caused fire started in timber and grass Sunday morning and more than 200 people are now on the fire lines, with more arriving all the time, Johnson said.

To the south, along the east flank of the Bitterroot Valley, the Signal Rock fire was comparatively calm Tuesday as it burned south of Skalkaho Pass. Officials said it tripled in size, to 7,600 acres, with Monday’s wind. The narrow, winding gravel road over Skalkaho Pass was closed Monday because of smoke but reopened Tuesday, officials said.

Cooler temperatures helped keep the fire from expanding even more, said information officer Ted Pettis.

“There was even a little bit of a snow flurry, so maybe it won’t be too long before we get a little help from the weather,” he said.

It’s burning in wilderness areas of the Bitterroot and Beaverhead-Deerlodge national forests.

The Copper Creek fire, reported Monday, also was burning in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge forest, and included three fires — of 60 to 70 acres total — and officials said they might burn together.

The Hazard Lake fire in the wilderness of the Sun River Game Preserve more than doubled in size Monday and Tuesday, to an estimated 750 acres, officials said.

It is 35 miles west of Choteau, and high humidity Tuesday kept it from growing much more, said Jane Weber, fire information officer.

Crews are not trying to suppress it, instead allowing it to burn naturally, but a sprinkler system was set up to protect a cabin owned by the state wildlife agency. Foresters said it was started by lightning.