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Fire was zero percent contained at 7 this morning
In this U.S. Forest Service fire map, with north to the left and Beaver Creek Highway, Montana Secondary Highway 234 running through the middle left to right and Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation marked in gray with yellow borders, hot spots at the East Fork Fire are shows as of 9 this morning.
People are silhouetted against flames Wednesday night at the East Fork Fire in the Bear Paw Mountains.
The East Fork Fire in the Bear Paw Mountains had grown more than 2,000 acres overnight and consumed 8,000 acres of Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, Beaver Creek Park and private land as of 7 a.m. this morning, a statement from the fire emergency operation center said this morning.
The fire was zero percent contained at 7 a.m. today and threatens 130 structures.
An EOC spokesperson said seven structures were reported burned but that number was not confirmed as of this morning and details were not available. No injuries were reported as of this morning.
Travel south of Havre on Montana Secondary Highway 234, Beaver Creek Road, was restricted to emergency personnel Wednesday.
The weather and lack of resources has made it difficult to battle the blaze, Don Pyrah of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation said this morning. The wind caused the fire to spread substantially overnight.
DNRC will fly over the fire today and will have updated its size, he said.
Firefighting personell are expecting another difficult day, Pyrah said, as the weather will be hot and windy.
Mandatory evacuations were implemented for the area south of Sucker Creek Road to the Rocky Boy reservation line, west to the Rocky Boy reservation border and east to the Blaine County line at 12:59 p.m. Wednesday.
State, federal and local agencies are cooperating to fight the fire, including Rocky Boy Natural Resources-Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bear Paw Volunteer Fire Department, Kremlin Volunteer Fire Department, Geraldine Volunteer Fire Department, Carter Volunteer Fire Department, North Toole County Volunteer Fire Department, Teton County Volunteer Fire Department, Montana DNRC, Hill County Disaster and Emergency Services, Montana Disaster and Emergency Services and the Hill County Health Department. The Havre Fire Department announced it is rescheduling its Fill the Boot fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy Association, which was set for Friday, due to the fire.
The fire sparked to life Sunday on the reservation. Rocky Boy Fire and Bear Paw Volunteer Fire Department were notified of a fire south of Mount Otis Sunday at 3:30 p.m., the release from the EOC said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
"Upon arrival fire crews found a rapidly growing wildfire in rugged terrain. Due to drought like conditions and sporadic weather conditions, crews quickly began an offensive attack but soon lost containment lines and additional resources were called in," the release said.
The blaze grew to an estimated 600 acres within the first 12 hours because of extremely dry conditions. The fire grew Tuesday morning to more than 1,000 acres "with limited resources available due to high fire activity in the state of Montana."
By Wednesday, with with red flag fire warnings in effect and high winds blowing, the fire grew to more than 4,000 acres and mandatory evacuations were ordered for south of Sucker Creek Road to Rocky Boy's reservation, west to the reservation line and east to Blaine County line
The release said the EOC has reports that the fire had not crossed Box Elder Creek.
Evacuations remain in effect. A red flag fire warning remains in effect until Friday at 9 p.m.
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