Fire leads to Zortman mandatory evacuation

A wildfire discovered Monday in the Little Rocky Mountains has led to the mandatory evacuation of Zortman and recommended evacuation of the Pine Grove and Star Hill areas of Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and a warning of evacuation for Hays.

Another fire discovered Monday near the Fort Belknap Agency has been contained, a post on the Fort Belknap Indian Community Council Facebook page reported Monday evening.

Facebook posts have been issued regularly by the Fort Belknap council and the Phillip's County Sheriff's Office about the fires.

Groups and agencies contacted this morning by Havre Daily News including The Fort Belknap tribal council, Fort Belknap Police Department, Fort Belknap Incident Command, Blaine County Sheriff's Office, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Public Information Office, DNRC Headquarters, and DNRC Fire Protection Bureau chief, either did not pick up or had no detailed information about the fire.

During a regional fire call this morning, the Blaine County commissioners said they had no information on the fire beyond it's location during a regional fire call this morning.

Greg Kelsey of Philips County said the fire has moved into his county and they're mobilizing everything they've got.

Kelsey said they're waiting to see what the wind does, but they just put in a mandatory evacuation order for the Zortman area.

Http://mtfireinfo.org said in a 10:29 update this morning the fire had burned 5,000 acres.

A post on the Phillips County Sheriff's Office Facebook at about 9 a.m. said incident command had issued a mandatory evacuation notice for Zortman-area residents. Law enforcement would be going door to door to advise residents to evacuate the area. High winds will be pushing the fire to the Zortman area. People were asked to take essentials only and evacuate to Malta to the old National Guard Armory.

Montana Fire Information dashboard at http://mtfireinfo.org reported that the Pine Grove Fire near Hays and Lodge Pole - and now threatening Zortman - was discovered about 11:36 a.m. Tuesday and the Runway Fire near the agency was discovered about 3:03 p.m. Monday.

A post on the Fort Belkap council page about 12:30 p.m. Monday said homes near the Pine Grove fire were being evacuated.

About 4 p.m. a post reported the fire was turning toward Lodge Pole and residents were told to evacuate to the Lodge Pole school.

Shelters were being set in the Hays school, the John Capture Center in Hays, Lodge Pole Elementary schools, and the Chief Nosey Center in Hays, a post about 1 p.m. said.

A post said Indian Health Services emergency medical technicians are available in a center in Hays if services are needed, a post about 3:15 p.m. said, and the Hays clinic was closed although the emergency room still was open.

An incident command center was being set up in the green Kills at Night Recreation Center in Hays if people have questions, a post about 2:30 p.m. said.

A post about 2:45 p.m. asked people who are not actively engaged in the evacuation process to stay off all roadways to allow emergency responders and emergency personnel to respond to the situation. This includes all routes, roads public and private, the post said. No vehicles of any kind, including four-wheelers, side-by-sides and horses, are allowed.

A post also said that if people are obstructing or fail to yield to emergency vehicles or personnel they will be charged offenses including refusal to obey and negligent endangerment.

At the agency, a Facebook post about 3:30 p.m. Monday said an evacuation of agency residents and office buildings was under way, for all employees and residents along the river at the agency.

About 4:20 p.m. a post said the Red Whip Center would be available for agency residents for the time being while the situation of a fire near the agency is being monitored.

A post about 8 p.m. said that fire was contained and hot spots were being monitored and mopped up.

Http://mtfireinfo.org reported in a 9:40 update this morning that the fire burned 100 acres.

The fire is burning in the same general area as one of the earliest fires in the heave fire season of 2017, the July Fire that charred 11,699 acres in the Little Rocky Mountains, leading to evacuation orders for the towns of Zortman and Landusky.

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Havre Daily News reporter Patrick Johnston contributed to this report.