Fire crews today battled a wildfire threatening rural homes east of Roundup, Montana, and fire weather forecasters are expecting that winds over the next several days could push growth on fires across the rest of the state. KFBB News tonight reported the Delphia Fire at 30,000 acres and said that a Type 2 IMT took over command yesterday morning.
The lightning-caused Delphia Fire is now 60 percent contained, according to an AP report, after growing to 30,000 acres (what the mainstream media is calling “almost 55 square miles,” which is actually 35,200 acres).
Pat Mckelvey with the Montana DNRC said the fire’s burning in timber and sage between Roundup and Musselshell; 15 or 20 outbuildings have been destroyed.
According to Tom Heintz’s IMT, a critical fire weather event is expected in the next few days. High temperatures, low relative humidity, and thunderstorms have resulted in a red flag warning.
There are no maps nor photos on inciweb for this fire. However, the Billings Gazette has a few photos online. Their report yesterday noted that power was restored to the areas of Melstone and Musselshell on Sunday night.
Increasing winds the next couple days will probably push the Delphia Fire to the east, where Mckelvey said crews were working on firelines. Area residents have been advised to evacuate, but most residents were reportedly staying put and planning to defend their homes. Near-record high temps and winds of up to 45 mph are expected before the forecasted cold front on Wednesday, along with predicted dry thunderstorms in the area.
So far this year, fires have burned just shy of 1,300 square miles (832,000 acres) in Montana.
I came up with 46.876 square miles…