Western Wildfires Contained
The big central Montana range fire surrounding the small ranching community of Musselshell has been fully contained and should be declared controlled by Thursday or Friday, officials said.
Containment was announced late Tuesday, a few hours after Gov. Marc Racicot gave Musselshell County and 31 other hot, dry counties in eastern Montana disaster area status.
Â"We are buttoning this little baby up,Â" said Mary Lunsford, information officer for the Fishel Creek Fire.
Thin puffs of smoke rose from charred bluffs for miles around Musselshell and small flames still lingered in random clumps of sage, but Lunsford said the blaze was Â"100 percent containedÂ" by 8 p.m. Tuesday, meaning crews had fire lines built entirely around the perimeter of the fire.
Â"It will burn in the interior,Â" Lunsford said. Â"It will be burning until we get rain.Â"
At last count , the fire baked 33,000 acres and destroyed one house, leaving miles of sooty moonscape crisscrossed by dirt fire lines
Meanwhile, firefighters in Utah have contained three human-caused weekend wildfires that burned more than 6,000 acres and expect to declare them controlled by Wednesday evening.
A fire in Eagle Canyon, which burned 3,744 acres, was contained by 6 p.m. Monday, said Kathy Jo Pollock, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake Interagency Fire Center. Two 20-member crews were released Tuesday and two were kept on to douse hot spots.
A helicopter and some firefighters were diverted to fight a human-caused fire at Wanship that briefly threatened structures before being contained Tuesday night, Pollock said.
Pollock said the Eagle Canyon fire started along a roadside, possibly from a spark from a car or a cigarette carelessly thrown from a window.
The 1,094-acre Long Ridge fire in western Utah County was contained at 7 p.m. Monday and was expected to be declared controlled by Wednesday night, said Loyal Clark, spokeswoman for Uinta National Forest.
In Box Elder County, a 1,900-acre blaze was out by Tuesday, said a sheriff's officer. It began when sparks flew from a power saw used to cut metal on a ranch about three miles south of Portage. The fire burned mostly private property on the ranch, which is owned by the polygamous Kingston clan, said Fire Marshal Greg Martz. Two ranch-owned pickup trucks were lost in the fire.
In California, firefighters have encircled the last of three wildfires that charred nearly 19,000 acres in San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties.
The San Bernardino fire, which started Sunday afternoon, burned 4,035 acres near Cajon Pass. Flames blackened houses, burned cars and sheds, destroyed two mobile homes and killed livestock. One home was destroyed.