Lightning fire burns 400 acres

The Daily Inter Lake

A lightning storm Friday night sparked 13 fires Saturday on the Flathead Reservation, the largest of which had burned about 400 acres Saturday evening.

The Deep Draw Fire is located off Montana 28 about three miles west of Elmo, said Jack Currie, dispatcher with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal dispatch center.

Firefighters had been working on several spot fires Saturday, all sparked by Friday's lightning storm, Currie said. A helicopter spotted the Deep Draw Fire at about 2 p.m.

"They were doing really well on it with the tanker and helicopter," Currie said. "Then we got about 40 mile-an-hour gusts from the east."

In addition to a single-engine air tanker and helicopter, about 35 firefighters from the tribal agency, including a hand crew, were assigned to the fire. Polson and Ronan rural fire departments also were called out, and two heavy air tankers from Missoula are working on the fire, Currie said.

Some structures are at risk.

A Type 2 incident management team is expected to take over at 8 a.m. today.