Wildfires

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Officials say new fires ignited in southern Montana as lightning moved through the area, including one that forced people from about 30 homes near Livingston. The cause of the 1½-square-mile fire northeast of Livingston that began Tuesday night has not yet been officially determined but officials suspect it was caused by lightning...

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Four of the five wildfires burning in southeastern Montana have been fully contained, but crews are keeping a wary eye out because forecasters are calling for high temperatures and possible lightning strikes. The 97-square mile Taylor Creek Fire was 85 percent contained on Tuesday...

Five new lightning-caused fires in Bitterroot National Forest.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana's largest wildfire is 95 percent contained, but lightning, heat and gusty winds could make things tough on firefighters later this week. Fire managers said earlier they hoped to fully contain the 250,000-acre Ash Creek fire on Monday...

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Crews took advantage of mild weather and calmer fire activity on Thursday to make headway on five large southeastern Montana blazes. Officials are now managing the fires as one 470-square-mile wildfire complex so they can quickly shuttle resources between them...

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A wildfire west of Three Forks has grown to about 7.5 square miles amid gusty winds that prevented burnout operations. Fire officials say the Pony fire in the Tobacco Root mountains grew about a half square mile overnight after strong gusts sent crew tents rolling across their encampment near Whitehall on Tuesday...

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Fast-moving wildfires triggered new evacuations in southeast Montana Monday, as firefighters battled a potent combination of lightning strikes, dry weather and flame-whipping winds. The number of fires continues to climb: A dozen major blazes are now active and have burned roughly 360 square miles of forest and prairie...

COLSTRIP, Mont. (AP) — Firefighters in eastern Montana prepared for a tough day Sunday as they faced predicted temperatures of 100 degrees, low humidity and strong winds with the possibility of afternoon thunderstorms that could spark additional blazes...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Scientists are using computer models to gain a better understanding of what makes wildfire go. They're working as firefighters toil on steep mountainsides to put out more than a dozen new blazes in what has already become a vicious summer of destruction in the West...

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...