Wildfire In U.S. Montana Forces Evacuation Of Hundreds Of Homes

Sumaira FH Published June 17, 2021 | 01:39 PM

A wildfire, dubbed Robertson Draw Fire, is burning near Red Loage, a small town in the state of Montana with over 2,000 residents, forcing 450 homes to be evacuated on Wednesday

LOS ANGELES, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Jun, 2021 ) :-- A wildfire, dubbed Robertson Draw Fire, is burning near Red Loage, a small town in the state of Montana with over 2,000 residents, forcing 450 homes to be evacuated on Wednesday.

Billy Chapman, fire information officer from Custer Gallatin National Forest, was quoted by the Montana Public Radio (MTPR) as saying he could not confirm any losses or damage.

The blaze, ignited on Sunday, exploded Tuesday, due to very dry, windy and changing conditions. It was estimated at 2,000 acres (8.09 square km) Tuesday, and by local time 6:00 a.m. (1200 GMT) on Wednesday it was estimated at 21,000 acres (84.

9 square km).

Photos posted online showed the fire burning actively eclipsed a mountain ridge, making the flames visible from Red Lodge at midnight.

"It was pretty scary. Mt. Maurice is very visible from downtown. I'm sure a lot of people have seen the pictures but it was a really intense fire, really high flames, absolutely torching the trees. It was intense for a few minutes," Chapman said.

Extreme fire behavior made it nearly impossible to fight the flames safely on the ground on Tuesday, Chapman said, explaining that air resources were also grounded for a few hours due to high winds, preventing retardant and water drops.