Fire in Bear Paws subsiding, residents say

Residents in the area say a fire that started on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation Sunday and appeared to jump a fire line late Monday seems to be under better control today.

Officials from the Chippewa Cree Office of Forestry said this morning they would not provide additional information about the fire until later tonight.

Peggy Ray, who lives about four miles south of the fire, said this morning they were concerned Monday night that they might have to evacuate, but firefighters began containing the fire and she has not been told to evacuate.

Ray said she also saw fewer flames this morning than she had seen on the first day of the fire, Sunday.

The East Fork Fire was reported about 4 p.m. Sunday, Office of Forestry Fire Manager Theron Oats said Monday morning. The cause of the fire was being investigated, Oats added.

The fire was burning east of Bear Paw Ski Bowl and north of Baldy at the East Fork Reservoir, mostly on the reservation but with some flames off the reservation as well Monday.

The fire appeared to have been under control but then flared back up Monday afternoon or evening, people reported, spread farther onto private land.

Local resident Susan Warburton said via Facebook that she took about $400 of supplies - mostly water, food and gasoline - to the firefighters Monday.

"Many people donated to our first food runs and I'm still being contacted," she wrote

People who would like to contribute can call and leave a message for Warburton at HRDC at 265-6743.

The fire has also led to a partial closing of Beaver Creek Park.

Assistant to the Park Superintendent Aubrey Williams said in a press release that people are not allowed to camp south of the Lions Campground at the highway bridge because of the fire.

"We also ask that nonemergency personnel stay away from the very south end of the park and the fire area," Williams said in the release.