Homes Lost to Northern Cheyenne Fire Climbs While Other Montana Residents Evacuated Want to See Property

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The tally of damage from a massive wildfire on southeast Montana's Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation continues to climb, as a tribal official reports at least 32 houses have burned.

Disaster and Emergency Services Administrator Ed Joiner said Thursday that 20 homes on the impoverished reservation burned since the fire ignited Tuesday. Joiner says at least 12 more burned in neighboring Rosebud and Powder River Counties.

And with high temperatures and windy conditions in the forecast for the next several days, Joiner says the 110,000 acre fire could keep growing.

Joiner says 70 to 80 people who evacuated ahead of the fast-moving blaze are staying in an emergency shelter. The town of Ashland remained without power, but officials hope electricity can be restored soon so people can return home.

ROUNDUP, Mont. (AP) — Firefighters battling an 18,700-acre wildfire south of Roundup are getting a break in the weather with cooler temperatures and lighter winds.

Fire officials expected the break in the weather to last a couple of days before another front arrives Sunday or Monday.

Officials said the fire has burned dozens of residences, though a precise tally was not available. Fire officials planned to survey the area Thursday.

Musselshell County Sheriff Woodrow Weitzeil says it's not clear whether anybody is missing after saying the day before that one person was unaccounted for.

Near the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, milder weather allowed firefighters to keep a 110,000-acre fire in check overnight.

Just north of Helena, Lewis and Clark Sheriff Leo Dutton said the remaining residents forced to leave homes threatened by another fire would be allowed to return.