BILLINGS — A brush fire that burned within feet of homes in the Billings Heights on Sunday is raising concerns about how quickly a small fire can threaten neighborhoods during Montana's peak fire season, especially as devastating wildfires continue to destroy communities in eastern Washington.
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Smoke from three major wildfires near Spokane drifted into Billings on Monday. The fires have forced more than 65,000 people to evacuate in the Spokane area and destroyed more than 700 homes and other structures. Fire officials say strong winds and dry conditions have fueled the fires, which remain among the nation's highest wildfire priorities.
While Sunday's fire in Billings was much smaller, residents who watched flames spread through dry grass say it showed how quickly conditions can change.
Judy Riley was on the phone with her mother Sunday afternoon when she heard their home near Big Sky Bible Church on Alkali Creek Road might be on fire. Riley, who lives a few streets away, rushed over.
"I ran out of the house, and I saw a huge plume of smoke," Riley said. "It was big enough to be a building."
The fire spread through dry grass, brush, and trees behind nearby homes. Riley said her family and neighbors immediately turned on sprinklers and grabbed hoses as flames moved closer.
"It was pretty hectic," she said. “This whole area is owned by the city, so if we don't take care of it, it can catch pretty quick.”
Firefighters stopped the blaze before it reached any homes, and no structures were damaged. The Billings Fire Department said the cause is undetermined and remains under investigation.
Riley said the close call made the destruction in Spokane feel much more personal.
"Seeing all the structure fires in Spokane, it's definitely been scary because you don't think that that can happen here, but this was a little too close to home," she said. "It kind of gives you an idea of what you need to do in case of an emergency," she said.
According to MT Fire Info, five new wildfires were reported across the state in the past day, and 184 have started in the past week. The agency reports that 58% of Montana's wildfires this year have been human-caused.
For local fire officials, the fire in the Heights underscores the challenges of protecting neighborhoods built next to grasslands and trees, known as the wildland-urban interface.
Lockwood Fire District Chief Branden Stevens said the devastation near Spokane is something his department studies closely as crews prepare for similar scenarios closer to home.
“It's a huge tragedy, but it's something that's not unrealistic that could happen here," Stevens said. "We see something like what happened in Spokane, and we think about, 'If this happened here, what would our strategy be? What would our tactics be?'"
Stevens said areas such as Emerald Hills in Lockwood remain a concern because of the combination of dense trees and nearby homes. A wildfire there in 2007 destroyed several homes and forced hundreds of residents to evacuate.
"That fire could have been a lot worse, and a lot more homes could have been lost," Stevens said. "The Lockwood Fire District firefighters did an amazing job to keep that fire suppressed.”
The district has already responded to several vegetation fires this summer, including a 40-acre fire near the Pryor Range on Sunday night and a 25-acre fire near the Four Dances Recreation Area several weeks ago.
Stevens said hotter temperatures and lower humidity continue to dry out grasses, trees, and other vegetation, increasing the potential for fast-moving fires as summer continues.
“This fire season has been a little bit busier than last year," he said. "The next two months are going to be critical."
He encouraged homeowners to help reduce fire danger around their properties by trimming trees, removing dead vegetation, clearing branches away from structures, and cleaning pine needles and other debris from gutters.
"It's that community partnership with the fire district and the citizens working together. We can start mitigating some of those hazards so that, hopefully, that it doesn't happen here," Stevens said. "The more prepared we all are as a community and as the fire district, the better our success is going to be."
For more information about fire mitigation, click here.
