HELENA, Mont. – Firefighting crews in Montana battled the four top priority wildfires in the West on Wednesday, blazes that have led to the evacuation of hundreds of people.
In a normal year, Wednesday would have been the beginning of the summer fire season in Montana, but drought has put most of the state two to three weeks ahead of schedule and more hot, dry weather is forecast.
“It’s going to be a long season,” said Warren Bielenberg, fire information officer for the Lewis and Clark National Forest in northwest Montana.
Large wildfires also were active in California, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming, the National Interagency Fire Center reported.
The No. 1 priority for firefighters in the West was a blaze in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness north of Helena that grew Wednesday to 31,238 acres, or nearly 49 square miles.
The fire, about 10 percent contained, was expanding Wednesday toward evacuated areas to the southeast, where hand crews, aircraft and bulldozers worked to build lines and keep it in the wilderness, said Cheryl Larsen, fire information officer. Ranchers began moving cattle out of the area as a precaution.
“The scope of this fire and the fuels and terrain it’s in, this is going to be something they anticipate will be burning for a while,” she said.
The No. 2 priority fire had covered only about 3,000 acres east of Clinton in western Montana but led to the evacuation Tuesday of about 40 homes in the West Fork of Cramer Creek. It was only 10 percent contained Wednesday and was threatening power lines and other structures, Bielenberg said.
Along the southern edge of Glacier National Park, the No. 3 firefighting priority had spread over nearly 19,500 acres, or some 30 square miles, and was only 5 percent contained. A lodge was evacuated and residents of several homes had been urged to leave.
The No. 4 priority was Montana’s largest wildfire, west of Augusta, which had claimed 39,220 acres, or 61 square miles, and was just 3 percent contained Wednesday, Bielenberg said. Authorities had ordered 27 homes evacuated and ranchers moved cattle to safer pastures.
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