Crews contain two Montana fires
HELENA – Despite continued high wind and hot weather, crews contained two wildfires Saturday near Pompeys Pillar and on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and neared containment of another blaze on the Crow Indian Reservation.
The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation said the Ballek fire was contained Saturday after burning about 2,000 acres. A pickup truck started the fire Thursday, and most of the work Saturday involved mop-up, said Darrell Kurk, a fire manager for DNRC.
On the Crow Reservation, officials initially said the Big Horn Mountain fire was fully contained Saturday night at 5,400 acres but revised that estimate after high winds from a storm cell moved through, fire information officer Pat McKelvey said.
On the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge, crews contained the 928-acre McArthur fire Saturday despite high wind and temperatures and were mopping up hot spots, operations section chief Jess Secrest said. That blaze was started by lightning on Monday.
Full containment was also expected on a 60-acre blaze in the Garnet mountains south of Potomac as early as Saturday night, DNRC information officer Jamie Rosdahl said. The fire, which burned within three miles of the Garnet ghost town, was sparked by human activity Wednesday, although an exact cause remained unknown.
A new fire sparked by lightning Friday night was burning in the southwest corner of the Gates of the Mountains wilderness north of Helena, said Jim O’Dell, manager of the Helena National Forest’s Interagency Dispatch Center.
“It’s in pretty good shape now,” O’Dell said.
Jack de Golia said the Berry Meadows fire in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest southwest of Jackson was still at 385 acres, with relatively little containment. More than 220 firefighters are fighting that blaze.
Oregon
Fire crews say they are making “significant progress” toward containing three wildfires burning on the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation.
The 500 acre Shitike Creek Fire, located two miles west of Warm Springs, was estimated to be 50 percent contained by Saturday evening. Helicopters dropped water along the edge of the fire during the day to assist ground resources.
The 1,130 acre Schoolie Rim Fire was 90 percent contained by Saturday evening, according to fire officials.