Montana wildfires threaten electric lines in cities

HELENA, Mont. -- Wildfires threatened power transmission lines across the state Saturday, and residents of four cities were warned to prepare for the possibility of blackouts.

Workers for NorthWestern Energy hauled 95-foot power poles into a burned area that was still smoldering west of Billings to rebuild torched lines linked that caused a brief outage earlier in the week.

Fires were also threatening other major lines on the western side of the state, where some of the power has been rerouted from lines that burned.

"We're stable right now, but if something were to happen to one or two of those others, that would be very difficult for the company," said Susan Fisher, a spokeswoman for the utility.

NorthWestern Energy officials said Friday that more damage could lead to major blackouts this weekend and warned customers in Missoula, Butte, Bozeman and Hamilton to be prepared.

Two dozen major fires burning in Montana on Saturday, most of them started by lightning and still uncontrolled, had covered almost 200,000 acres.

Near Missoula, at least nine fires were burning, and authorities were notifying people in 900 rural homes to prepare to evacuate.

Fire officials across the state braced for thunderstorms over the weekend and threat of erratic winds that could blow a fire out of control, but the winds hadn't picked up yet Saturday.

"It turned out to be pretty mellow," said Kathy Arnoldus, fire information officer for the Robert fire in Glacier National Park. "But for a while, we were pretty worried."

Without wind, heavy smoke blanketed much of the state and sparked concern about air quality, but it was good news to fire crews.

"If it (smoke) clears out, it means something happened," said Tom Whittinger, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. "It's uncomfortable, but it's a good thing."

Near Condon, in the scenic Swan Valley of northwestern Montana, the Holland Lake Lodge and about two dozen homes were ordered evacuated. Officials warned at least 300 other residents and business owners that they, too, may have to leave soon as a 7,900-acre fire continued to burn.

Near the Idaho border, roughly two dozen residents were evacuated from Lakeview as a fire grew to about 5,000 acres.

In Glacier National Park fire officials let some evacuated residents return to their homes on the east flank of a 42,000-acre fire. The east entrance to Yellowstone National Park remained closed, meanwhile, because of an encroaching 3,200-acre fire.

Also Saturday, some people evacuated from their homes in Provo, Utah, were allowed to return after officials said the structures were out of danger. The fire was burning out of control on the mountainside above Brigham Young University.