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Lame Deer, Mont. (AP) – A wildfire swept through rural towns in southeastern Montana on Thursday as hot, dry weather persisting across the west caused flames in more than a dozen states.
Several thousand people remained under evacuation orders as the Richard Spring Fire advanced through the sparsely populated Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.
Meanwhile, the Dixie Fire – which began on July 13 and is the largest wildfire in the country – threatened a dozen small communities in the northern Sierra Nevada, even though its southern end was mostly surrounded by lines of fire.
The blaze had burned more than 780 square miles (over 2,000 square kilometers), destroyed some 550 homes and nearly wiped out the town of Greenville. It was 30% content.
On Wednesday, the Montana fire displayed extreme behavior and had spread over tens of thousands of acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The blaze, which was only 15% surrounded, began on Sunday and powerful gusts blew it up over more than 600 square kilometers.
By nightfall, the blaze had spread about two miles from the evacuated town of Lame Deer, jumping over a freeway where authorities hoped to stop it.
Rancher Jimmy Peppers sat on his horse east of town, watching an orange glow grow near the site of his home.
“I didn’t think he would cross the freeway, so I didn’t even move my farm equipment,” said Peppers, who spent the afternoon rounding up his cattle in a neighbour’s pasture over close to town. “I don’t know if I’ll have a house tomorrow morning.
The city of around 2,000 is home to the tribal headquarters and several subdivisions and is surrounded by rugged and wooded terrain. Late Wednesday a second blaze was approaching Lame Deer from the west, while the Richard Spring blaze raged in the east.
A few miles outside of town, Krystal Two Bulls and some friends stayed to clear the brush from her yard in hopes of keeping it safe from the flames. Thick plumes of smoke rose from behind a tree-covered ridge just above the house.
“We’re packed and loaded, so if we have to go we will,” Two Bull said. ” I am not afraid ; I am prepared. Here you don’t just run away from the fire or abandon your home.
About 600 people were also ordered to leave for Ashland and the surrounding area, a small town just outside the reserve. Local, state and federal firefighters were joined by ranchers using their own heavy equipment to cut lines of fire around homes.
The National Weather Service said a ridge of high pressure moving through the area would pump temperatures into the 90s over the weekend.
Drought conditions have left trees, grass and brush dry in many western states, leaving them ripe for inflammation. Montana alone has had 25 major wildfires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
At the same time, California and some other states were facing monsoon moisture fluxes too high to bring real rains, but could create thunderstorms bringing new fire hazards from dry lightning and irregular winds. .
In northern California, a number of wildfires and the threat of others have prompted three national forests to close the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area, an area of half a million acres of granite peaks, lakes and trails, until November.
“Tracking hikers in hazardous areas keeps airplanes vital to firefighting efforts away and adds risk and exposure to first responders. In addition, forest managers hope to limit the possibility of man-made fires with this complete temporary closure, ”said a statement from the forest.
Scientists said climate change has made the region much hotter and drier over the past 30 years and will continue to make weather conditions more extreme and forest fires more frequent and destructive. The more than 100 major wildfires in the American West are occurring as parts of Europe are also burning.
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