Fire comes within quarter-mile of Zortman

Today's dry and windy weather is expected to give firefighters battling the 1,669-acre fire southwest of Zortman a tough go, Bureau of Land Management Public Information Officer Jonathan Moor said this morning.

"The wind might help spread the fire," he said.

So far, since the fire started Monday, the terrain and the wind allowed firefighters to keep the fire from encroaching close enough to the town so an evacuation has not been ordered, Moor said. But if the fire gets too close, the people of Zortman are prepared to evacuate, he added.

Law enforcement officers from the Phillips County Sheriff's Office and BLM are in the vicinity to assist with evacuations if they become necessary, a release from BLM said Tuesday.

The fire is under the command of Incident Commander Josh Barta, from the Bureau of Land Management North Central Montana District. The fire was reported near the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation around 4:30 p.m. Monday.

The fire is burning in mixed timber, mainly on BLM-managed lands, the release said. The firefighters had not contained the fire by the time Tuesday's release was issued.

The spirits of those in Zortman, Moor said this morning, are high.

"People still have a good attitude," he said.  

The cause of the fire is being investigated. But weather conditions, including the heat, have certainly contributed to its spread, Moor said

While winds and terrain mainly carried the fire away from Zortman, it did advance to within a quarter-mile of the town, which has a population of 69, the release said.

Since the fire started, about 136 wildland firefighters have responded to try and extinguish it.

Crews from the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources, Phillips County and a number of volunteer fire departments have all responded on the scene, the press release said.

A heavy air tanker, multiple single engine air tankers, four helicopters, 10 engines, two water tenders and three bulldozers responded.

Moor said a Type-2 Incident Management Team - a self-contained, all-hazard or wildland team recognized at the national and state level - is expected to take over fire management duties Thursday, which will reduce the responsibilities for the local fire departments. There may be some collaboration between the incident team and local departments, but the bulk of fire duties will be on the incident management team, Moor said.