Montana firefighters bracing for gusty weather

PERMA, Mont. – An advancing cold front, with gusty winds, prompted firefighters to try to pin down the southeast corner of the Seepay 2 wildfire in northwestern Montana late Friday, officials said.

“We want to button this up before the front hits so we can hold the lines,” said Wayne Johnson, fire information officer.

The 7,000-acre fire was burning between Dixon and Plains, most of it on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Some 550 people are assigned to the fire, which is considered just 40 percent contained, Johnson said.

On Friday, the fire burned out of timber into grassland on its eastern edge but remained in timbered terrain to the south.

Seepay 2 is the top firefighting priority in the Northern Rockies because of its potential to expand.

Officials believe it was caused by humans, but an investigation continues, Johnson said.

He said a temperature inversion Friday kept fire activity to a minimum, but increasing winds were expected late Friday as the cold front approached and likely would push the fire to the north and east.