Montana wildfire forces lodge evacuation 2 hours, 1 minute ago

Montana wildfire forces lodge evacuation 2 hours, 1 minute ago



HELENA, Mont. - Lodge guests and workers were forced to evacuate and a long stretch of highway was closed after winds whipped up a wildfire outside Glacier National Park, causing it to jump control lines, officials said.

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When guests of the Summit Station Lodge left Saturday morning to go golfing, hiking, rafting and fishing, the fire was about 8 miles away, said the owner, Jorge Simental. Within three hours, it was a mile away.

"We are hitting a couple hot spots on the south side with some helicopters, trying to keep it from moving to the south," said Dale Warriner, fire information officer.

Fire officials ordered guests and nearly all 18 employees to leave the lodge Saturday evening, Simental said. The manager and chief maintenance worker were going to stay "until they have to leave," he said.

Employees were trying to contact guests and gather their belongings to move them to other lodges, he said.

Fire crews were protecting the lodge and "tearing down some trees that are kind of dangerous, that are very close to cabins," Simental said.

A 24-mile stretch of U.S. 2, which connects a bridge to a campground, was closed.

The fire had been listed at 420 acres but blew up to about 1,000 acres, or about 1 1/2 square miles, Warriner said.

Another fire north of Helena was still keeping people away from recreation areas and homes, and fire crews appeared to be settling in for a long battle. The fire, burning at nearly 10 square miles, was 15 percent contained.

Meanwhile, officials said a huge, 1,030-square-mile fire in southern Idaho and northern Nevada could be contained as early as Sunday.

"The rain really helped us the other day, which helped bring up that containment," said fire information officer Pam Bierce. "There are still some hot spots we're working on."

The lightning-sparked fire was about 80 percent contained, Bierce said.

In California, a nearly month-old wildfire in Santa Barbara County expanded for the first time in several days Saturday, consuming more than 200 additional acres. It had held steady at about 48 square miles since earlier in the week. It is 80 percent contained and is expected to be fully surrounded Aug. 3, officials said.