UPDATE: 10:52 p.m. - July 9, 2025
The South Kalispell Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a haystack fire on Foys Bend Lane at approximately 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
Firefighters arrived to find three haystacks, containing over 350 tons of hay, fully engulfed in flames.
An immediate request for mutual aid was put out to multiple agencies, including the Somers Fire Department, the DNRC, Smith Valley Fire Department, Evergreen Fire Rescue, West Valley Fire & Rescue and the Bigfork Fire Department.
Watch: Wildfire on Foys Bend Lane
A Lakeside Quick Response Unit ambulance responded and treated two firefighters for heat-related injuries and one civilian for smoke inhalation. No one was transported for medical care.
According to the South Kalispell Fire Department, crews worked the scene for more than eight hours and used 630,000 gallons of water.
Property damage, including the hay, was more than $125,000.
Fire officials report this is the third suspicious fire in the past week.
(second report: 3:37 p.m. - July 9, 2025)
Crews remain on the scene battling a fire south of Kalispell that broke out on Wednesday afternoon.
South Kalispell Fire Chief Chris Yerkes tells MTN that several thousand dollars worth of hay bales are on fire on Foys Bend Lane.
Yerkes says a bystander and several freighters are being treated for smoke inhalation and other heat-related injuries.
The fire is estimated to have burned less than an acre, and no structures are currently threatened.
Several fire departments, including Somers, Bigfork, Creston, Evergreen and West Valley, are assisting the South Kalispell Fire Department.
- information from Maddie Kiefer included in this report.
(first report: 1:40 p.m. - July 9, 2025)
Crews are on the scene of a wildfire that's broken out south of Kalispell.
Firefighters are battling a blaze on Foys Bend Lane. Multiple fire and police units are on the scene.
We will have additional information as it becomes available.
