Perma fire closes Montana 200

A growing fire 15 miles east of Perma, a tiny town on the southwest corner of the Flathead Indian Reservation, forced the closure of Montana 200 and threatened homes in the Magpie Creek drainage Tuesday afternoon.

From its start Sunday morning, winds rapidly fanned the Seepay 2 fire to an estimated 3,300 acres by late Monday. High winds continued to drive the fire to the north and east Tuesday.

"All I can say is that the fire has grown significantly today," said fire information officer Wayne Johnson.

By late afternoon, the fire had forced a temporary closure of Highway 200 from the Perma Bridge south to Magpie Creek.

"It did spot across the highway in one place, but they caught that," Johnson said. "There's just so much smoke in the area that it's unsafe, and we've got some strong winds that are driving the fire toward the highway."

The highway closure is considered temporary, and will be re-evaluated regularly, Johnson said.

The fire growth prompted the evacuation of several homes in the Magpie Creek drainage, said Germaine White, an information with the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes.

"The leading edge of the fire is about three quarters of a mile from the nearest structure," White said.

As of Tuesday morning, the fire was being battled by six 20-person firefighting crews, four helicopters, three engines, four dozers, four water tenders, one skidgine, and a Type II incident management team from northern Idaho. Total personnel on the fire was about 150 people.

"The number of resources has also grown significantly," Johnson said. "We've had resources coming in all day long."