YPR News

In Meagher County Sunday an evacuation order was issued and then lifted for residents in the Grassy Mountain area due to the Woods Gulch Fire burning 16 miles northeast of Townsend. A section of Highway 12 was also briefly closed. As of 6:30 p.m., those evacuation orders, which had been issued an hour-and-a-half earlier., were rolled-back to a pre-evacuation warning. Highway 12 was also re-opened.

The Meagher County Sheriff's office Saturday afternoon issued a pre-evacuation notice for all residents on Ramspeck Lane and Birky Road, due to wildfires in the area.

According to the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, the Meagher County Sheriff’s Office has issued an evacuation order for the Woods Creek area. The evacuation orders are for Gipsy Creek to Big Birch Creek.

Montana fire officials estimate approximately 38 residences have been lost to fires this year, and roughly 600 people are displaced from their homes due to evacuation orders on nine fires.

The Boulder 2700 Fire burning more than 1,000 acres east of Flathead Lake near Polson has burned 8 primary structures and 17 secondary structures as of this afternoon, according to incident officials. Evacuation orders issued July 31 for residents along Highway 35 from mile marker 6 to 13 on the east side of Flathead Lake, including all of Finley Point, remain in effect.

4:45 p.m.: A wildfire burning 8 miles east of Polson has resulted in structure losses and evacuations on the East Side of Flathead Lake. Lake County issued a mandatory evacuation notice for the Finley point area early Sunday morning. The evacuation area also includes the section of highway 35 from mile marker 6 through mile marker 13. Entry to Finley Point was closed as of 2 p.m. with predicted high winds in the area.

A mandatory evacuation order is in effect in the Finley Point area east of Polson due to the Boulder 2700 Fire. The fire has jumped Highway 35, which was closed to southbound traffic at Blue Bay around 2 a.m. As of 4 a.m. Sunday the mandatory evacuation orders include the Skidoo Lane and Finley Point areas, and from mile marker 6 through mile marker 12 on Highway 35. People south of mile marker 6 should be prepared to evacuate.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s office has issued a pre-evacuation warning for additional areas near the South Yaak Fire burning 4 miles northwest of Troy.

Strong winds have pushed the 9,500-acre American Fork Fire west, leading to pre-evacuation warnings for the Shields River and Smith Creek communities. Fire Operations Section Chief Shawn Nagle says residents should consider evacuating even though it’s not mandatory.

The 53,000 acre Poverty Flats Fire is threatening more than 1,240 homes around Big Horn County. It’s also threatening infrastructure, utilities and roads in the area.