Firefighters Continue to Make Progress Against Large Fires, Quickly Contain Two New Starts

DEADMAN FIRE, McGHEE FIRE,  PRAIRIE FIRE, 4-MILE FIRE (Rosebud & Big Horn Counties) 

Thursday was a very productive day for burnout operations on both the McGhee (11,409 acres) and Deadman Fires (18,927 acres). Hotshot crews carried on with burnout operations on the west flank of McGhee, along the Tongue River Road and tied into dozer line on the north tip of the fire perimeter near Birney. Hotshots did protective burnouts around several residences as well.

On the west side of the Deadman Fire,  smokejumpers continued to bring the fire’s edge to the Tongue River, a natural barrier to fire spreading west.

A suppression repair plan was created for fireline rehabilitation on the Prairie Fire ( 6,540 acres). Overnight, firefighters patrolled, mopped up hot spots, and watched for spotting due to outflow winds from the thunderstorm.

On the Four Mile Fire (2,082 acres), firefighters are cooling the remaining hot spots and patrolling the edges. Suppression repair actions will begin on the Prairie Fire today.

Containment:   Deadman: 20%   McGhee: 9%   Prairie: 50%   Four Mile: 39%  

HORSE GULCH FIRE (Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest)

Evacuation warnings have been lifted around the Horse Gulch Fire area, however, traffic restrictions remain in place on Jimtown Road between Riverside Road and Trout Road, as well as on Black Bear Road due to heavy emergency vehicle traffic, as firefighters continue working to fully contain the second-largest wildfire burning in the state.

Yesterday, crews were mopping up along the south, west, and northwest sides of the fire area. Today, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), also known as drones, and ground crews continued with tactical backfire operations in the Bar Gulch area, to remove unburned fuel that remain too close to the fire line to prevent spot fires outside the line..

The human-caused fire has been burning for 10 days, and has claimed 14,935 acres, and is now 40% contained.

MILLER PEAK FIRE (Lolo National Forest)

The fire has grown to 2124 acres, and remains 0% contained. Crews continue to work on securing the northwestern edge of the fire by conducting burnout operations in the Plant Creek Drainage. On the southwestern side, crews continued constructing fireline on the fire’s edge towards Holloman Saddle. In the Moccasin Ridge and Greenough Creek drainages, crews worked towards containment on the fire’s edge and looked for opportunities to limit fire’s spread.

BEACON HILL FIRE (Lolo National Forest)