Independent Record

A fire sparked shortly after noon Thursday in the Big Belt Mountains east of Helena grew to 20 acres by 4 p.m., but official were cautiously optimistic that it would be under control sometime this evening.

Three Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation engines, three U.S. Forest Service engines, their crews and another Forest Service crew were working on the blaze along with Broadwater County volunteers during the afternoon and evening hours. Their efforts were aided by a DNRC helicopter and an USFS helicopter.

Another helicopter, one large and two small retardant planes, and a spotter plane were on order, according to Steve Webb with the Interagency Dispatch Center in Helena.

"We just got tanker 44, a heavy air tanker, from Billings," Webb said at 4:30 p.m. "It's taking on retardant right now and will be launching soon."

The fire is about five miles south of the Duck Creek Pass road, low on the Big Belts' western flank.

"It's burning in a fairly tight draw near Dry Gulch, near Baldy Mountain," said John Grassy, DNRC public information officer. "The fire is in a mix of sage, juniper and some timber."

He said that there aren't any structures nearby.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Both Grassy and Webb said that the cool evening temperatures should greatly aid the firefighting effort.

"At this time of year, we just kind of wait for the sun to go down and the temperatures to drop," Webb said.

Grassy added that with only a slight breeze Thursday, the fire wasn't moving very quickly.

Reporter Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com