GREAT FALLS — A large wildland fire is burning near Browning. At this point, there are no reports of damaged structures, and no injuries have been reported.
From the Glacier County Sheriff's Office: "There are strong winds fueling a large fire west of Blackfoot near US Highway 2. We have the Highway shut down between the “Y” and Blackfoot. Please alter your travel plans if they include that route."
From Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services: "US2 East from Browning to Meriweather is shut down per Department of Transportation. Please use an alternate route and stay off the roads. Vehicles on the road are making it harder for emergency personnel to do their jobs."
From Blackfeet Incident Command: "All Tribal Offices will be closed today due to severe winds. Also, there is a fire burning east of Browning and all residents are being evacuated to the Browning Middle School. Please contact KWebb Galbreath for any questions or concerns (406) 317-3040."
From Glacier County DES: "Browning Middle School being set up for Evacuees from Fire."
From Glacier Electric Cooperative: "We are aware of the outages affecting parts of East Glacier, Babb, St.Mary, Little Badger, and parts of Browning. We are working on all the outages at this time and have crews on site. There will be an extended outage up to 5 hours for areas closest to the fire in Blackfoot. This includes surrounding areas of Blackfoot, South of Viaduct to North of Heart Butte, Dog Gun Lake, Little Badger, and Old Agency."
There is no word at this point on the suspected cause of the fire. We will update you if we get more information.
