Eastern MT fire updates

The combination of hot, dry weather, drought, and late afternoon thunderstorms on Monday resulted in several new fire starts in Eastern Montana, and prompted existing large fires to increase in size.

The Witten and Lee Creek fires located south of Ashland and Lame Deer, Mont., were combined into the Tongue River Complex. A Northern Rockies Type 2 Incident Management Team, with Mike Almas as Incident Commander, is managing this complex. It was estimated at over 26,000 acres as of Tuesday morning.

Several new fires have been reported in Garfield County. The Blue Ridge Complex is comprised of the 5011, Curry, Germaine, Russell and Westholder fires. The fires combined covered over 900 acres as of Tuesday morning. A Type 3 Incident Management Team has been established to manage this compled.

There are several other large fires burning in Eastern Montana that are not part of either complex.

Several counties have fire bans and restrictions in place. Go to the national fire restrictions site for current information at firerestrictions.us. Remember the smallest spark has the potential to cause significant damage, so do your part to prevent wildfires.

Eastern Montana/ Northwest South Dakota Fire Updates

• Tongue River Complex: Managed by Type 2 Incident Management Team, 26,135+ acres

• Blue Ridge Complex: Managed by a Type 3 Incident Management Team, 900+ acres

• Russell Fire: On BLM land in Garfield County, 300 acres.

• Lelig Fire: On private land in Garfield County, 2,228 acres - 50% contained

• Mile Marker 4 Fire: On private land in Custer County, 500+ acres

• Keopke Fire: On private land in Garfield County, 1928 acres

• Coulee Fire: In Garfield County, 200 acres

• McGinnis Creek Fire: On private land in Rosebud County, 300 acres.