A fire burning in Stillwater County has torched several hundred acres and prompted the shutdown of a wind farm.
As of Thursday morning, the Windmill fire had burned through an estimated 800 to 1,000 acres, according to the latest statement from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. Crews were still working to contain the blaze, located about eight miles north of Reed Point along Interstate 90.
Efforts to suppress the blaze, burning near a wind farm, includes federal, state and county resources, along with volunteers. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
Crews were alerted to the fire Wednesday afternoon, according to DNRC, with grass, juniper and timber fueling the flames. By Wednesday evening, 20 engines, five tenders, two dozers, three graders, two helicopters and four tankers were committed to the fire. On Thursday, Molt Volunteer Fire Department uploaded multiple photos of firefighters skirting the blaze and tankers dumping fire retardant. No injuries have been reported.
So far this year, wildfires have burned through about 118,500 acres in Montana. Human activity has been responsible for about 60% of those fires. To the west, crews continued to make progress in containing the state’s largest active wildfires burning in Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The Sand Creek and Bobcat Lakes fires have torched a combined 40,000 acres, according to a Thursday update, with nearly 800 people assigned to the fires, including hotshot crews.
Last year was exceptionally mild regarding wildfires in Montana, ending with just over 75,000 acres burned.