Weekend Belknap blaze almost out

A fire in the middle of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation kept many local firefighters busy this weekend, but it should be extinguished by the end of the day today.

Fort Belknap Fire Management Officer Rick Weasel said the fire started around 12:30 p. m. Friday afternoon and was quickly swept up by the hot, dry and windy conditions.

"We initially attacked through Friday night and caught up with it Saturday night, " Weasel said.

He also said his firefighters named it the Welder Fire.

While tracking the damage by GPS, they've determined the fire burned 33,318 acres, all on tribal lands. That's almost 15 times the size of Havre.

The fire mostly burned between Montana Highway 66 and Indian Highway 8. No people were injured and no structures were threatened.

Crews came from all over the area, including Harlem, Rocky Boy Indian Reservation and the Bureau of Land Management, to help control the blaze.

Weasel said he hoped to see the fire completely extinguished by 8 p. m. today.