Lindbergh Lake fire at 80 acres

The Daily Inter Lake

A forest fire has burned into heavy timber on mountain slopes above Lindbergh Lake south of Condon, but cool and humid weather slowed the fire on Tuesday.

"The weather has not been conducive for fire behavior but it has been conducive for firefighting," said Karen Sargeant, information officer for the Montana Department of Natural Resouces and Conservation.

"We're thinking it's still right around 80 acres or so," Sargeant said Tuesday afternoon.

The fire was reported just after noon Monday, prompting an immediate response from smokejumpers and aircraft. About 30 firefighters from the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes and 20 firefighters from the Blackfeet Reservation are on the fire.

"We had two medium helicopters and a heavy helicopter doing bucket drops," Sargeant said. "They've been doing that all day long."

The fire is burning in steep terrain on the southwest side of the lake. There are homes on the lake, but they are mostly on the other side of the lake. No structures are considered threatened.

However, the Forest Service campground on the lake and all trails leading to Crystal Lake in the Mission Mountains have been closed.

Several boaters at Lindbergh Lake volunteered to use their boats to shuttle crews and equipment across the lake to the base of the fire.

An information center has been established at the Condon Work Center.