The Havre Fire Department said on its official Facebook page that Saturday night at 5:44pm, they were dispatched for a report of hay bales on fire of off county road 836 Northwest.
The first arriving engine found three hay bales on fire with no immediate structures threatened by the bales. The high winds caused the fire to spread quickly to trees and light fuels which moved to open lands and started spreading rapidly. Due to the high winds and active fire behavior, immediate mutual aid was requested from the Bear Paw Volunteer Fire Department, Kremlin Volunteer Fire Department, Chinook Volunteer Fire Department, Wildhorse Volunteer Fire Department, and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
The Havre Fire Department initiated, and all department call back off duty personnel to assist. Thanks to the coordinated structure protection and aggressive fire attack the forward spread of the fire was stopped at 115 acres. The fire burned a vehicle and a couple of out building but no other structures. In total, 15 engines, 3 water tenders, and six support vehicles responded to the fire.
