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Lump Gulch Fire 25% contained, cause determined

Posted at 3:22 PM, Jun 16, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-17 09:30:11-04

Fire managers have determined what started Saturday's wildfire south of Helena.

According to the Incident Management Site For Fire, the fire was started by power lines around 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

Strong winds at the time caused the fire to quickly grow to more than 1,000 acres.

On Tuesday, fire managers adjusted the fire size down to around 1,100 acres, and they say rain on the fire the past two days has helped stop its spread.

As of Tuesday morning, the fire was 25% contained, and all pre-evacuation notices in the area of the fire had been lifted.

Two outbuildings have been lost in the fire, but no other structure damage has been reported yet.

Currently, 135 personnel from local and county fire departments, the Montana DNRC, and the USFS are assigned to the fire.

It includes four 20-person hand crews, four wildland fire engines, two dozers, and four helicopters.

Leaders are continuing to ask the public to stay away from the area if possible, so fire crews can get around safely.

You can find the latest information on the Lump Gulch Fire online on Inciweb (https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6770/).