PLAINS — Fire crews are making progress containing the Banana Lake Fire that has burned 913 acres north of Plains since it started Saturday.
The Western Montana All Hazards Incident Management Team took command of the fire Monday morning, with 194 personnel now working to control the blaze.
"We have 194 personnel on the fire," said Nick Holloway, public information officer for the Western Montana All Hazards Incident Management Team.
Watch to learn more about the efforts to fight the Banana Lake Fire:
With those firefighters, plus two helicopters, 14 engines and 10 water trucks, crews have established containment lines around portions of the fire.
"The containment line we have all around the fire, we're holding that line but it's not fully secured at this point," Holloway said.
The fire sparked on Saturday afternoon off Montana Highway 28 and spread quickly due to high winds.
"It was very windy that day and the following day, and it grew in a couple of days to about 850 acres," Holloway said.
Local volunteer fire departments provided crucial initial response before the management team arrived.
"I will say that the initial attack with the local volunteer fire departments and the other responders in the area was excellent. They did a really good job on Saturday when the fire was wind driven and blowing up, and that allowed us to come into a little bit easier situation," Holloway said.
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Calmer weather conditions in recent days have aided firefighting efforts, though challenges remain, particularly on the fire's northern edge, where embers have blown outside the perimeter.
"That is a huge concern for us. We really prioritize catching those spot fires and getting containment line around them and then extinguishing them. So we had 7 spot fires yesterday, caught them all," Holloway said.
Crews are working to extinguish remaining flames and hot spots, which is especially important given the fire's unusual burn pattern.
"One difficulty we're having is that it was what we call a dirty burn, meaning there's patches of unburned material next to patches of burned material all throughout," Holloway said.
For safety reasons, the speed limit on Highway 28 adjacent to the fire has been reduced to 35 miles per hour to protect both firefighters and drivers.
"It's a narrow, windy road. And so when you have fire traffic intermixed with regular traffic at 70 miles an hour, that's a huge hazard," Holloway said.
Currently, no structures are threatened by the fire, which is one of Montana's largest wildfires so far this season.
The early start to fire season could indicate a challenging summer ahead.
"We normally don't start fire season until early to mid July, so this is a good month before a normal fire season would start so I think that bodes, maybe harshly for the upcoming fire season in terms of longevity of the fire season," Holloway said.
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