East Side Fire burns 1,600 acres, 185 evacuated south of Red Lodge

Firefighters have evacuated more than 185 homes near Red Lodge after a fire rapidly spread to more than 1,000 acres on Monday and continued on Tuesday during unseasonably warm weather.

At a briefing shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday, incident command said that the fire was zero percent contained, and firefighters were working on protecting homes and other structures near East Side Road before expecting a cold front, which will bring shifting winds of as much as 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

The cause of the fire still has not been released. 

The East Side Fire is burning south of Red Lodge near U.S. Highway 212 and has more than 100 firefighting personnel on the job. There are two fixed-wing aircraft and four helicopters. Temperatures were ideal for fire as temperatures were forecast for the mid-60s, humidity has dropped and wind speeds were supposed to accelerate. 

While other temperatures in the lower elevations of southern Montana climbed toward 90 on Tuesday, there will be a rapid change in weather with colder temperatures and forecasts that include rain and snow by Wednesday. 

The fire is currently located in the Beartooth Ranger District of the Custer-Gallatin National Forest. While 185 homes have already been evacuated, fire officials have placed others in the area on alert for evacuation. The homes are located in the Mt. Maurice and Howell Gulch area. 

Temperatures on Tuesday called for a high of 76 with humidity in the teens in Carbon County. As the cold front enters, firefighters are especially concerned because wind speeds could reach 50 mph. 

According to the National Weather Service in Billings, Red Lodge has a 64% chance of precipitation that could change from rain to snow by late Wednesday. Forecasters have said that Red Lodge has a 95% chance of at least 2 inches of snow by Saturday evening. 

Originally, aerial spotters had estimated the fire grew to more than 3,000 acres on Monday night, but later incident commanders were able to get a more accurate measurement, recalculating the number of acres at 1,600. 

Please refer to carbonalert.org for additional information regarding evacuation information.