Forest Service investigators say the man admitted he’d been setting fires for four to five years, primarily by lighting trash on fire and tossing it out the window of the vehicle he was driving.

A nonprofit organization made up of past and current U.S. Forest Service employees is suing the agency. The complaint filed by Forest Service Employees For Environmental Ethics accuses the federal agency of violating the Clean Water Act by dumping fire retardant into water bodies.

Dangerous fire conditions prompted Sanders County commissioners to declare an emergency as three fires burn near communities. No structures are threatened and no evacuations are in place as of publication time.

Fire danger ranges from 'very high' to 'extreme' across northwest Montana heading into the weekend. A group of 10 federal, state and local agencies Friday urged the public to keep wildfire prevention in mind. Continued high temperatures and low relative humidity are forecast for the coming week.

A wildfire that started Tuesday afternoon is burning about 100 acres 10 miles west of Polson.

Extreme heat and bone-dry conditions are prompting officials to raise the fire danger and implement burning restrictions in parts of western Montana.

Firefighters made good progress on containing fires near Helena and Lake Mary Ronan this weekend. All evacuation orders in effect due to the Matt Staff Fire have been lifted. Some orders in place near the Elmo Fire have been rolled back to pre-evacuation warnings.

The Matt Staff Fire burning east of Helena has burned over 1,500 acres and is still active but suppressed, according to the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff.

A fire that began Thursday at the intersection of Highway 12 and Spokane Creek Road has led to evacuation orders for the west shore of Canyon Ferry Reservoir and Matt Staff Road in Helena.

A phone number posted on the fire-information website Inciweb for evacuees of the Elmo Fire was incorrect and led to an apparent scam.