Evacuations in Elmo as wildfire burns west of Flathead Lake

A wildfire burning on the west side of Flathead Lake led to evacuation orders and warnings in the Elmo area Friday night. The fire had grown to an estimated 7,000 acres by Saturday afternoon, according to Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Division of Fire Spokesperson C.T. Camel.

On Saturday afternoon, the city of Polson Fire Department posted on its Facebook page that evacuations had been lifted for all areas aside from Black Lake and a Type 2 Incident Command Team had been ordered.

A Red Cross evacuation center has been set up at the Linderman gym in Polson.

A roughly ten mile stretch of Highway 28 west of Elmo remains closed.

The Elmo 2 fire was reported around 7 p.m. Friday, burning in extreme conditions with wind-driven runs. The fire started in grass and moved into timber as it grew. The Northern Rockies Coordination Center reports the fire was human caused.

We'll update this post with more information as it arrives.

Fireline

The connection between humans and fire goes back millions of years. What started with campfires and cooking grew into a burning addiction that catalyzed the Industrial Revolution and now shapes nearly every aspect of our society. Now, our ongoing reliance on fire in its many forms is changing the climate with explosive consequences for wildfires — and much more.