Resort residents return after blaze
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. – Residents and resort guests evacuated because of a wildfire near this national park gateway town have been allowed to return.
The evacuation order for the Madison Arm Resort, Lakeshore summer homes and Horse Butte and Rainbow Point areas was lifted Sunday night, the U.S. Forest Service announced.
Madison Arm Resort guests and Lakeshore area residents were allowed into the area Sunday night but were asked to present identification at a check point. The area was to open to the general public Monday afternoon.
The Madison Arm fire has burned an estimated 3,660 acres, or nearly 6 square miles, in the Gallatin National Forest. About 90 percent of the fire was contained Monday night, fire information officer Gary Hoshide said.
“It’s doing very good,” Hoshide said, adding that wind wasn’t as much of a problem Monday as it had been on previous days. “They took an aerial flight today and they saw more dust devils than they saw smoke, which is good.”
Hoshide said staffing was scaled back from about 440 people on Sunday to 320 on Monday. At the height of the staffing, about 500 people were assigned to the blaze.
The Forest Service said human activity caused the fire that began last Wednesday, and investigators have been trying to determine what happened specifically.
Meanwhile, fire conditions remained at “very high” to “extreme” in most of the forest.
Forest officials planned to implement “Stage 2” fire restrictions in the Hebgen Lake Ranger District at noon Tuesday. Under Stage 2 restrictions, no open flames are allowed and the use of chain saws or internal combustion engines is prohibited between 1 p.m. and 1 a.m.
“Stage 1” restrictions were to take effect in the rest of the forest, except the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and the Spanish Peaks portion of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness, forest officials said. Campfires and charcoal fires will be restricted to designated recreation sites in the Stage 1 area.
Officials also issued reminders that fireworks are not allowed on national forest lands.
Elsewhere, the Middle Fork fire in the Lewis and Clark National Forest southwest of Utica had burned an estimated 1,146 acres by Monday night. About 50 percent of the blaze was contained. Lightning started the fire on June 21.