Boulder 2700 Fire

A Ronan man has been found guilty of lighting a 2021 fire that burned homes and forced evacuations on the east side of Flathead Lake.

A Lake County man has been arrested for allegedly starting the Boulder 2700 fire that burned down more than a dozen homes on the east side of Flathead Lake last year.

The 150,000-acre Richard Spring Fire burning south of Colstrip across the Northern Cheyenne reservation is 15 percent contained as of Wednesday afternoon.Evacuations are in place for Ashland, Lame Deer, North Tongue River, Highway 212, Rabbit Town, St. Labre campus and the Amish community.

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.