Cactus Fire Grows to 620 Acres
Incident: Cactus Wildfire
Released: 7/19/2008
DILLON, MONT., July 19, 2008--The Cactus Fire, located 10 miles west of Whitehall, MT near the small community of Pipestone, grew to 620 acres Saturday afternoon. About 40 firefighters are battling the fire which is being fueled by dry grass, sagebrush, trees and dead and down trees. As a safety precaution fire managers closed the Pipestone Hot Springs road between state highway #2 and Interstate 90 to prevent curious motorists from getting too close to the fire. Also, a temporary flight restriction zone is being enforced while fire aircraft drop water and retardant. Additional resources will be arriving Sunday including a type II fire management team and two additional 20 person type II fire crews.
Most of the 150 or so residents in vicinity of the fire voluntarily evacuated or were not home when the fire first started burning around noon on Saturday. No structures or personal property have been lost or damaged.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
