Spring Break
Weather break helps fight fire near Mont. resort
MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press Writer
Issue date: 8/1/08 Section: NATIONAL
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Fire crews were shoring up defenses around a Montana ski hill on Thursday, taking advantage of a lull in winds that had pushed a large wildfire to within a half-mile of the resort's summit.
The nearly 15-square-mile fire burning through a canyon in the Beartooth Mountains near the town of Red Lodge has forced people to evacuate the ski hill and 90 nearby homes.
On Wednesday, fierce winds sent embers flying toward the ski area, lighting numerous small fires that prompted authorities to ask employees of the town's namesake resort to leave. The winds subsided Wednesday evening and Thursday.
Crews were digging a narrow fire line down the back side of the ski hill that officials hoped would stop the fire's six-day march down a remote, thickly timbered canyon - straight toward the town of Red Lodge and its namesake resort.
"The fire has burned to the point now where people can see the flames," Red Lodge Fire Chief Tom Kuntz said. "It's become a little bit more real for everybody."
The fire, 10 percent contained Thursday, was about six miles from Red Lodge, about 60 miles southwest of Billings. Residents of 200 homes aside from those already evacuated have been told to be ready to leave.
As tanker aircraft dropped loads of fire retardant in front of the blaze, Grizzly Peak resident Shirley Overton praised the firefighters' efforts.
"They've really been bombing it," she said. "It's still flaming up there, but they've been on it day and night."
Fire officials said sprinklers were being installed Thursday to spray down the resort's lodges and other buildings - augmenting snowmaking guns that have been running for several days to keep the resort damp.
Five summer cabins and three other structures have burned since the blaze began Saturday. The cause remains under investigation.
Outside California's Yosemite National Park, a 53-square-mile blaze sparked last week by a target shooter was 45 percent contained Thursday as firefighters shored up fire lines around residential areas along its southern and eastern edges. It has destroyed 21 homes, caused hundreds of people to evacuate and for days had spit up clouds of ash that obscured the park's granite peaks.
The nearly 15-square-mile fire burning through a canyon in the Beartooth Mountains near the town of Red Lodge has forced people to evacuate the ski hill and 90 nearby homes.
On Wednesday, fierce winds sent embers flying toward the ski area, lighting numerous small fires that prompted authorities to ask employees of the town's namesake resort to leave. The winds subsided Wednesday evening and Thursday.
Crews were digging a narrow fire line down the back side of the ski hill that officials hoped would stop the fire's six-day march down a remote, thickly timbered canyon - straight toward the town of Red Lodge and its namesake resort.
"The fire has burned to the point now where people can see the flames," Red Lodge Fire Chief Tom Kuntz said. "It's become a little bit more real for everybody."
The fire, 10 percent contained Thursday, was about six miles from Red Lodge, about 60 miles southwest of Billings. Residents of 200 homes aside from those already evacuated have been told to be ready to leave.
As tanker aircraft dropped loads of fire retardant in front of the blaze, Grizzly Peak resident Shirley Overton praised the firefighters' efforts.
"They've really been bombing it," she said. "It's still flaming up there, but they've been on it day and night."
Fire officials said sprinklers were being installed Thursday to spray down the resort's lodges and other buildings - augmenting snowmaking guns that have been running for several days to keep the resort damp.
Five summer cabins and three other structures have burned since the blaze began Saturday. The cause remains under investigation.
Outside California's Yosemite National Park, a 53-square-mile blaze sparked last week by a target shooter was 45 percent contained Thursday as firefighters shored up fire lines around residential areas along its southern and eastern edges. It has destroyed 21 homes, caused hundreds of people to evacuate and for days had spit up clouds of ash that obscured the park's granite peaks.
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