Coal Ridge Fire is out

The Coal Ridge fire in Blaine County was declared controlled Monday morning and the Montana Bureau of Land Management said this morning that all firefighting resources have been released.

The fire, originally reported last Tuesday north of the Stafford Ferry in Blaine County, reached 1,200 acres late last week after more than doubling its initially reported 450 acres that Tuesday, but by Friday the fire was 60 percent contained after firefighters worked to establish a perimeter around the blaze.

Releases from BLM said the fire had burned 790 acres of private land, 166 acres of BLM managed lands, including areas within the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and BLM Havre Field Office areas, as well as 250 acres of state-managed lands in Blaine County.

The blaze was fought by a team from BLM, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service as well as Blaine and Fergus counties along with private resources, led by the Bureau’s North Central Montana District.

BLM said the fire was 100 percent contained by 2 p.m. Saturday and mop-up activities continued throughout the weekend before firefighting resources were released.

In a regional fire call this morning Blaine County reported that the fire got about an inch and a half of rain over the weekend.