Red Lodge Fire Rescue, local agencies extinguish house fire, wildland fire

PHOTOS: A house up the East Rosebud Canyon is at a complete loss after going up in flames on Tuesday. Red Lodge Fire Rescue, Columbus Fire, Roberts Fire and Absarokee Fire responded to a report of a structure fire. On scene, crews found the home to be completely in flames. The house was unoccupied when the fire occurred. Firefighters extinguished a wildlife fire on a nearby hillside caused by the structure fire.
NBC Montana

Small fire contained southeast of Seeley Lake

Crews from the Montana Department of Natural Resources responded to the Dolly Varden Fire southeast of Seeley Lake Tuesday afternoon. Officials say the fire is now 100% contained. The fire, which burned 1 1/2 acres, was reported at 1:50 p.m. and was caused by an escaped debris burn affected by heavy winds. Fire crews were able to contain the fire quickly but initially the fire posed risks to four structures. Seeley Lake Rural Fire District crews left the scene at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, while DNRC and USFS engines spent the evening mopping up, ensuring the fire was completely extinguished. Officials advise residents to burn safely and not to burn when winds exceed 5 mph.
NBC Montana

Cascade County Disaster & Emergency Services director is stepping down

Brad Call, the director of Cascade County Disaster & Emergency Services (DES) is stepping down. Call has been in the position since March of 2020. The DES team has served the citizens of Cascade County in assisting their day-to-day needs as well as disasters, such as floods or fires. They also initiated a "Regional Hazard Mitigation" plan to include other county and state agencies within the region. “This position had been left a little bit open-ended and there was no real direction for Disaster and Emergency Services in Cascade County,” Call said. “With the assistance of the deputy director, my assistant here, we were able to get Disaster and Emergency Services back on its feet and running in a proper direction.” Cascade County Commissioners are in the process of interviewing candidates.
KRTV CBS 3 Great Falls

Glendive crews put out fire during 55 mph winds

PHOTOS: West Glendive Fire Department reports to Facebook that the eastern Montana fire season kicked off on Monday with a wildfire that took 19 engines, five tenders, four command vehicles, one dozer and a blade to put out. According to the Facebook post, West Glendive was paged at approximately 6:27 PM on April 22, 2024, to a fire southeast of the town. Their response was reportedly matched with support from Wibaux, Fallon, and Prairie Counties, and the Bureau of Land Management was on the scene. “This was truly an incredible turnout on what could have been a very bad day, thank you to everyone that came to assist," West Glendive Fire Department said. This fire was secured despite battling 55 mph winds.
KULR-TV NBC 8 Billings

Missoula County preparing assets, bracing for active fire season

With snowpack running well behind the seasonal average, Missoula County is racing to gather its resources ahead of what's anticipated to be an active wildfire season. On Tuesday, county officials reviewed seasonal snowfall averages, going back to 2016 and 2017, the latter being one of the busiest and most expensive fire seasons in recent memory. In 2016, the December snowpack rang in at 124%. But in December of 2023, the snowpack total was only 37%. Barring a barrage of spring snow, it could indicate what's expected this summer in terms of fire. “Those kinds of numbers do concern us, because so much of our taxpayers and districts are in the urban interface,” said Kirk Paulsen with the Missoula Rural Fire District. “If we can identify the number of people we need on scene as quickly as possible, we can hopefully put a good stop on anything that happens.”
Missoula Current