(Photo by Mark Higgins, Roundup Resident)
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A wildfire south of Roundup has burned more than 15,000 acres and destroyed an unknown number of homes and other buildings.

Fire managers ordered people to evacuate their homes. The fire, pushed by 55 mph winds on Thursday, made a 12-mile run and threatened the Signal Peak Mine, which also was evacuated. Among the buildings caught in the fire was the Branding Iron Saloon on Highway 87 between Roundup and Billings. Between 95 and 150 homes have been evacuated as the fire burns out of control.

Evacuations were ordered for areas off Goulding Road, including residents of Buckskin Road, Harper Coulee, Dillman, McCord and Hampton according to Musselshell County Commissioner Larry Leske. The Red Cross has set up a shelter for evacuees at the Roundup Community Center, located at 700 Third Street.

(Photo by Mark Higgins, Roundup Resident)
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Two helicopters from Helena were ordered as well as two heavy air tankers and a lead plane. The fire complex is made up of two fires, the Dahl fire and the Hawk fire south of the town of Musselshell.

The cause of the fire is unknown, although the National Weather Service reported lighting and thunderstorm activity in the area.

Musselshell County Attorney Kent Sipe told The Billings Gazette that at least 60 homes had burned.The area has a history of ugly fires. In 1984, two fires burned together in a giant conflagration that charred 173,000 acres and consumed 44 homes.

(Photo by Mark Higgins, Roundup Resident)
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