Strong winds on Monday pushed a fire through 350 acres of forest land four miles southeast of Philipsburg, Montana Monday. During the night the winds calmed down, but officials report that five homes and numerous outbuildings burned in the fire that was reported at 6:30 p.m. MT Monday.
Philipsburg is about 80 miles southeast of Missoula.
Residents have been allowed to return to their homes, according to an update on InciWeb, where the fire behavior is described as “creeping with occasional group torching and small runs”, which is very different from the conditions when these two photos were taken.
Management of the fire is transitioning to a Type 3 Incident Management Team under the direction of Incident Commander Jonathan Clark.
Thanks go out to Chris.
The Smokejumper Status Report this morning shows 10 smokejumpers on the fire. Dont know if they jumped or pounded the fire?
I doubt they jumped it, unless it was off the tailgate of a pickup truck: the winds were really high, and the area is well-roaded. Not smart to play SJ under those conditions – time to minimize risk and get out on the line!