Evacuations

The Sheep Fire, part of the Thompson-Divide Complex, blew up on Thursday, prompting the closure of an 8-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 2 and evacuation notices for more than 100 homes and businesses. However, NBC Montana reports clouds and heavy smoke made the Sheep Fire less active on Friday.

Mandatory evacuations were issued yesterday afternoon in the town of Essex as the Sheep Fire overwhelms Flathead County.

Residents of Essex and surrounding areas are preparing themselves to evacuate due to a nearby fire called Sheep Fire.

Evacuation levels in Glacier National Park are being downgraded as the weather improves and more firefighters arrive to battle the blaze.

The fiery derailment of an oil train in Lynchburg,Virginia last week, has local emergency officials elsewhere concerned about their ability to respond to such accidents.

UPDATE - Thursday, August 29, 7 a.m. Peter Christian spoke with Fire Information Officer Dave Schmitt on the Montana Morning radio show. Schmitt said the fire is now 70 percent contained.

The U.S. Forest Service has issued a stage 2 evacuation notice to citizens with homes in the danger zone of the Sawtooth fire.

Blackfeet tribe officials say firefighters are starting to get a handle on two wind-fueled fires that have burned buildings and forced evacuations on the northwestern Montana reservation. Tribal spokesman Wayne Smith says the fires started Wednesday evening and quickly spread to 16,000 acres overnight...

Officials say gusty winds are fueling major grass fires on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana that are prompting evacuations.