Montana Wildfires: Crews Fight 1,000-Acre Fires at Two Ends of State

HELENA – Fire crews battled 1,000-acre wildfires Friday on opposite ends of the state but no structures were threatened.

In eastern Montana, firefighters from Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota are fighting the Line Creek fire in a remote area on the Montana-Wyoming border about 40 miles southwest of Broadus. The fire was reported Wednesday at mid-afternoon and the cause is unknown. Information officer Eric Lepisto says it's burning in grass and timber in terrain that's extremely steep in most areas.

In southwestern Montana, firefighters are working on a 1,000-acre blaze at the Red Rocks Lakes National Wildlife Refuge east of Lima. Jack de Golia, a spokesman for the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, says the fire was lit on Tuesday, Sept. 9, under a plan to burn 240 acres of nonnative grasses.