Fire crews are battling Montana wildfires as evacuations were ordered ahead of fires near Butte and Roscoe — fires that threatened at least 130 homes. High temps across much of the drought-parched state, along with gusty winds, have pushed fires through tinder-dry stands of timber and grasslands. The dangerous conditions prompted Montana’s Governor Brian Schweitzer to declare a statewide fire emergency.
The Helena Independent Record reported that most of this season’s fires have been in the eastern half of the state. Just like in the summer of 2007, serious smoke haze has clouded western Montana from fires in Idaho.
The Delphia Fire, east of Roundup, Montana, is about 90 percent contained at 40,653 acres. Heintz’s Type 2 team reports that crews will be out until midnight tonight and then resume a regular schedule tomorrow, focusing on mopup along suppression lines and patrolling for spot fires.
Air quality has deteriorated most significantly in Hamilton [note: downtown web cam, not useful at night MDT], where it’s been listed as “unhealthy” by state officials. In Butte, Helena, Great Falls, and Bozeman, officials downgraded the air quality to “unhealthy” for sensitive groups.
About 10 miles south of Butte, the 19 Mile Fire burned a couple of homes and outbuildings. Crews are expecting red flag warnings for high winds and low humidities; the fire today is at 3,000 acres, burning south of I-90 and north of Highway 2. Firefighters are working on structure protection in the Whiskey Gulch area. A Type 2 Incident Management Team (Stan Benes, IC) is transitioning with local resources and will assume management Thursday morning.
The fire’s threatening about 80 homes and evacuations were ordered for about 150 residents.
There were several new fire starts today in Montana including one south of Livingston that took out many homes and damaged some businesses and a church
Thanks for the heads-up, Leo.