Four fires burn more than 36 square miles

Four wildfires are actively burning in Western Montana and have led to some evacuations and road and trail closures.

The Moose Meadows Fire about 18 miles southwest of Philipsburg has burned 3.4 square miles. The Granite County sheriff’s office evacuated about 30 buildings threatened by the fire.

The Firestone Flats Fire about 5 miles east-northeast of Arlee has burned 2.7 square miles. Twenty-one homes were evacuated Saturday and some roads were closed. 

The lightning-caused Gold Pan Fire Complex has burned just over 18 square miles of land about 35 miles southwest of Sula on the Montana-Idaho border. Firefighters have wrapped a ranger station and a fire lookout in protective material.

The Red Shale Fire, which has burned nearly 12 square miles in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, is mostly being allowed to burn.

A host of trails have been closed by the expanding Red Shale Fire:

• Trail 130- Red Shale Creek Trail: from its junction with Trail 111 to the Continental Divide/junction with Trail 174.

• Trail 108-Route Creek (from 117 to 110)

• Trail 110-North Fork Sun River (from pack bridge to Sun River Pass).

• Trail 11-Rock Creek

• Trail 116-Open Fork

• Trail 117-Washboard Reef  

• Trail 125-Moose Ridge Lookout Trail

• Trail #130-Red Shale

• Trail #132-Moonlight Peak

• Trail #151-North Fork Lick Cr.

• Trail #162-Gates Creek

• Trail #163-Ray Creek Cut-off

• Trail #166-Gates-Moose Cr.

• Trail #174-North Wall Trail

• Trail #175-Wall Trail

• Trail #194-Rock Cr.-Moose Cr.